Empathy and Sympathy in Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive

Juha Helin Master’s Thesis

Master’s Programme in English Studies Faculty of Arts

University of Helsinki May 2020

Tiedekunta – Fakultet – Faculty Humanistinen

Koulutusohjelma – Utbildningsprogram – Degree Programme Englannin kielen ja kirjallisuuden maisteriohjelma

Opintosuunta – Studieinriktning – Study Track Englantilainen filologia

Tekijä – Författare – Author Juha Helin

Työn nimi – Arbetets titel – Title Empathy and Sympathy in Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive

Työn laji – Arbetets art – Level Maisterintutkielma

Aika – Datum – Month and year Toukokuu 2020

Sivumäärä– Sidoantal – Number of pages 56 s.

Tiivistelmä – Referat – Abstract

Tutkielmassa käsittelen empatiaa ja sympatiaa Brandon Sandersonin fantasiakirjasarjassa The Stormlight Archive. Analysoin eri keinoja, joilla lukijoiden empatia ja sympatia sarjan hahmoja kohtaan herätetään. Analyysissa keskityn sarjan kolmen päähahmoon, Kaladiniin, Shallaniin ja Dalinariin, jotka ovat sarjan eniten fokalisoivat hahmot. Käyn läpi yleisiä ker-ronnan tekniikoita, joiden avulla lukijoiden sympatia ja empatia hahmoja kohtaan syntyvät, minkä jälkeen tarkastelen hahmojen empatiaan ja sympatiaan käytettyjä keinoja omissa lu-vuissaan. Sarja on julkaistu 2010–luvulla, ja näin ollen sen tähänastinen tutkimus on hyvin vähäistä. Tutkielmassani käyttämä teoreettinen viitekehys pohjautuu Suzanne Keenin teoriaan nar-ratiivisesta empatiasta, sekä Howard Sklarin teoriaan narratiivisesta sympatiasta. Tämän lisäksi käytän Meir Sternbergin käsitteitä primäärisestä ja äskettäisestä efektistä, jotka oh-jaavat lukijoiden tunteita hahmoja kohtaan. Analyysimetodina käytän lähilukua. Tutkielman ensimmäisessä analyysiluvussa käsittelen Kaladinin hahmoa, ja esitän, että luki-joiden tunteet hahmoa kohtaan rakentuvat kolmella keskeisellä tavalla, joita käsitellään omissa alaluvuissaan. Ensimmäisessä alaluvussa käsittelen Kaladinin sankaruutta ja siihen vaikuttavia hetkiä, toisessa hänen suhdettaan Syliin, ja kolmanessa sarjan ensimmäisen kir-jan takaumalukuja. Toisessa analyysiluvussa keskityn Shallaniin, ja näytän, että empatia ja sympatia häntä kohtaan syntyvät hänen mutkikkaista ihmissuhteistaan, hänen sisäisestä kamppailustaan identiteettinsä kanssa, sekä sarjan toisen kirjan takauma-luvuista, jotka ker-tovat hänen synkästä nuoruudestaan. Kolmannessa analyysiluvussa tarkastelen Dalinarin hahmoa. Lukijoiden tunteet Dalinaria kohtaan muovautuvat hänen isähahmon roolinsa avul-la. Tunteisiin häntä kohtaan vaikuttavat myös kolmannen kirjan takaumaluvut, sekä tietyt tunteikkaat hetket tarinassa. Tutkielmassa pyrin näyttämään, kuinka lukijoiden tunteet The Stormlight Archiven päähah-moja kohtaan syntyvät. Perustekniikoiden lisäksi osoitan, että Sandersonin käyttämät takaumat lisäävät lukijoiden tunteita hahmoja kohtaan. Tämän lisäksi sarjassa on käytetty tiettyjä hetkiä, sekä hahmojen sisäistä tunteiden myllerrystä lisäämään lukijoiden tuntemuk-sia hahmoja kohtaan.

Avainsanat – Nyckelord – Keywords Fantasiakirjallisuus, Brandon Sanderson, The Stormlight Archive, empatia, sympatia

Säilytyspaikka – Förvaringställe – Where deposited Keskustakampuksen kirjasto

Muita tietoja – Övriga uppgifter – Additional information

Contents

1. Introduction

1.1. Aims and Methods

1.2. On Brandon Sanderson and The Stormlight Archive

1.3. Brief Theoretical Background

2. Kaladin

2.1. Kaladin as the Hero

2.2. Kaladin’s Relationship with Syl

2.3. The Effect of the Analepses

2.4. Concluding Remarks

3. Shallan

3.1. Shallan’s Growth and Readerly Empathy

3.2. The Recency Effect of the Analepses

3.3. Shallan’s Inner Turmoil

3.4. Concluding Remarks

4. Dalinar

4.1. The Father Figure

4.2. Analepses: The Blackthorn

4.3. The Moments of Peace

4.4. Concluding Remarks

5. Conclusion

Works Cited

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List of Abbreviations

The Way of Kings = WoK

Words of Radiance = WoR

Oathbringer = OB

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1. Introduction

1.1 Aims and Methods

In this thesis, I analyze empathy and sympathy in Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight

Archive. By looking at the three main characters of the series, Kaladin, Shallan and Dalinar, I

identify the main methods used by Sanderson to evoke readers’ empathy and sympathy

toward these characters. Each of the three characters has analepses in the series, separated into

different novels. I examine the effect the analepses have on readers’ perception of the

character, as well as their function in creating readers’ empathy and sympathy. There are

distinct moments and events created around two of the characters, Kaladin and Dalinar, where

the empathy toward the character is created through emotional build up and using montage-

like imagery to add to the narrative suspense of the moment. Part of the empathy for each

character is created through their inner contemplation, which enables character identification.

The empathy for the characters is also emphasized by the narrative situation, as each of the

characters is a focalizing character in large part of the series.

1.2 On Brandon Sanderson and The Stormlight Archive

Brandon Sanderson was born on December 19, 1975 in Lincoln, Nebraska. He enjoyed

reading as a child, but due to book suggestions that did not suit his taste, he abandoned books

completely. However, in the eighth grade, his teacher introduced him to fantasy, which led to

him reading and liking epic fantasy books so much that he began writing them, although,

according to Sanderson, his first attempts were dreadful. He started as a biochemistry major,

but after doing missionary work for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he

realized that he did not miss chemistry, but he missed writing.

Sanderson changed his major to English and wrote as much as he could alongside

studying and working. He submitted multiple manuscripts for publishing, all of which were

rejected, until in 2003 he got a call from Tor that wanted to buy one of his books, Elantris,

which became his first novel in 2005. After Elantris, many of his books were published,

among which was the first part of his projected ten books series The Stormlight Archive, The

Way of Kings, in 2010. He was also chosen to finish Robert Jordan’s epic series The Wheel of

Time, which he completed by writing the last three books of the fourteen part series.

Sanderson has been on the New York Times Best-Seller List fifteen times, and he is also the

only author to make the short list for the David Gemmell Legend Award eight times in seven

years. In 2011, he won the award for The Way of Kings. (“About Brandon.”)

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The Stormlight Archive is Sanderson’s epic fantasy series that is planned to span over ten

novels, the first five being a set and the last five as a sequel to the first five (Sanderson 2013).

The Stormlight Archive currently consists of three books, The Way of Kings (2010), Words of

Radiance (2014) and Oathbringer (2017) and a novella, Edgedancer (2017), the events of

which chronologically take place between Words of Radiance and Oathbringer. The

Stormlight Archive is set in Sanderson’s Cosmere, which is a fictional universe of his creation

where many of his other books also take place. The Stormlight Archive is set on a planet

called Roshar, which is periodically ravaged by deadly, but foreseeable Highstorms always

traveling from east to west. The planet is inhabited by multiple human races, most importantly

the Alethi, whose conflict with Roshar’s nonhuman race, Parshendi, is one of the major plot

lines of the series so far. In addition to humans and the Parshendi, Roshar is full of spren.

Spren are creatures that, according to Jasnah Kholin, one of the most knowledgeable

characters in the series, “are elements of the Cognitive Realm that have leaked into the

physical world. They’re concepts that have gained a fragment of sentience, perhaps because

of human intervention” (WoR 42). Most spren are insignificant, for instance, windspren fly

with strong winds, flamespren dance in flames. However, there are ten types of spren that can

form a bond with a human, which enables the human to tap into the magic system of Roshar

by inhaling Stormlight and being able to Surgebind, that is, to manipulate natural forces such

as gravity. The main focalizing characters of the first three books, Kaladin, Shallan Davar and

Dalinar Kholin, are all Surgebinders, although none of them know it at the time the story

begins. I will now give the plot synopses for the novels.

The Way of Kings begins with a prologue where Szeth-son-son-Vallano, later known as

the Assassin in White, kills the king of Alethkar. The Parshendi immediately claim

responsibility for the assassination, which leads to the Alethi starting a war against the

Parshendi on the Shattered Plains. The novel takes place five years later mostly on the

Shattered Plains, whereto the main character, Kaladin, is taken as a slave in the beginning of

the book. In the war camps at the Shattered Plains, Kaladin is sold and put into the bridge

crews, which is the worst line of work possible. The bridge crews carry heavy wooden

bridges for miles in order to eventually charge to a chasm in a rain of Parshendi arrows from

the other side of the chasm without armor or support from the soldiers, which makes them

more or less arrow fodder. Dalinar is one of the highprinces waging war on the Shattered

Plains. He is trying to keep the kingdom together by guiding his nephew, Elhokar, who is the

king of Alethkar. Dalinar has visions that make his family, and himself, question his sanity.

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Shallan is in Kharbranth, a city far away from the Shattered Plains, trying to become the ward

of Dalinar’s niece, Jasnah, in order to save her family. At the end of the novel, Kaladin and his

bridge crew save Dalinar and his army from certain death, and Dalinar buys all the bridgemen

from another highprince’s, Sadeas’s, army with his priceless Shardblade, and makes Kaladin

the captain of his personal guard. Jasnah accepts Shallan as her ward after both of their

Surgebinding abilities are revealed.

In the second novel, Words of Radiance, Shallan makes her way to the Shattered Plains

after surviving a shipwreck that seemingly costs everyone else on the ship, including Jasnah,

their lives. At the Shattered Plains, Shallan infiltrates an organization called the Ghostbloods,

which she learns was behind the shipwreck. She also continues Jasnah’s research into the

parshmen being Voidbringers, the ancient enemy of the Knights Radiant, and the location of

Urithiru, the mythical city of the Knights Radiant. Dalinar is planning an expedition to the

center of the Shattered Plains in order to end the war, which has turned into a competition for

the highprinces, once and for all. Kaladin gets tangled up in an assassination attempt of

Elhokar, while also being in charge of protecting him. Dalinar launches the expedition, and

they find the Parshendi army summoning an Everstorm, an “evil” equivalent of the ravaging

Highstorms that go through Roshar periodically. Kaladin realizes why he needs to protect the

king, not kill him, and saves him from the assassination attempt and immediately afterwards

flies to the center of the plains and saves Dalinar from the Assassin in White. Meanwhile,

Shallan finds the Oathgate that she was looking for, and saves the Alethi armies by

transporting them into Urithiru, away from the two deadly storms.

At the beginning of Oathbringer, Kaladin flies into his hometown to check on his family

after the unexpected Everstorm is believed to have caused all parshmen to turn into

Voidbringers. He goes on a scouting mission in Alethkar, and finds that the parshmen, who are

not all Voidbringers, are capturing the human cities after thousands of years of slavery.

Dalinar is trying to bring all the human kingdoms together to fight the perceived threat caused

by the Voidbringers, but his warmongering past makes it difficult for him to gain anyone’s

trust. Dalinar sends Shallan and Kaladin, as a part of a rescue crew, to Kholinar, the capital

city of Alethkar, in order to open the Oathgate there and save the city before the parshmen

capture it. Kaladin and Shallan are unable to save the city, and when they use the Oathgate,

instead of taking them to Urithiru, the Oathgate sends them to Shadesmar, the Cognitive

Realm, where the spren live. Kaladin learns that Dalinar is in danger, and they travel to the

cognitive realm side of Thaylenah, a city where Dalinar and his armies take on the

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Voidbringers in the first real battle between the humans and Voidbringers. Kaladin and

Shallan are unable to enter the Physical Realm due to the Oathgate in Thaylenah being closed

between the Realms, but Dalinar does the impossible and unites the three realms by virtue of

possessing part of the power of the dead “god”, Honor. The humans are able to fight back and

save Thaylenah from the Voidbringers.

Because very little research has been done on the series due to it being published during

the 2010s, in the next section I will not present earlier critical approaches, instead I only

discuss the theoretical background for the thesis.

1.3 Brief Theoretical Background

In the analysis for readers’ empathy for the characters, I rely on Suzanne Keen’s theory of

narrative empathy from Empathy and the Novel. Keen defines empathy as feeling what others

feel, and sympathy as feeling a supportive emotion about someone else’s feelings (Keen 5). In

the third chapter of her book, called “Readers’ Empathy”, Keen gives fifteen proposals on

both readers’ empathy for fictional characters and the effect of scholarship on reading. Most

of Keen’s proposals are applicable to The Stormlight Archive, but there are some that do not

match exactly with the series. Her first proposal is that “empathy for fictional characters may

require only minimal elements of identity, situation, and feeling, not necessarily complex or

realistic characterization” (Keen 69). This is certainly true for The Stormlight Archive, since

readers empathize with Kaladin immediately in his first focalizing chapter, even if the readers

themselves are not slaves, which relates to Keen’s second proposal, that character

identification invites empathy even if the reader and character are obviously different (Keen

70). Her fourth proposal states that “empathetic responses to fictional characters and

situations occur more readily for negative feeling states” (Keen 72), whereas I would argue

that, especially in Kaladin’s case, the readers empathize more strongly with the positive

feelings caused by the heroic moments instead of his negative feeling states. On the other

hand, the empathetic effect of the heroic moments is influenced by the “recognition of prior

(or current) experience” (Keen 80), because structurally the moments remind the readers of

movie montages.

Keen (93) writes that the two most commonly nominated features of narrative fiction

associated with empathy are character identification and narrative situation. One of the

techniques of characterization that has been tested is that “character’s involvement in a

suspenseful situation provokes physiological responses of arousal in readers even when they

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disdain the quality of the narrative” (Keen 94). In The Stormlight Archive, this relates to

Kaladin’s and Dalinar’s moments of heroism that are the culminating points for the suspense,

and at the same time the most powerful emotional elements in the series. She also mentions

anachronies, which in the series have a major impact on character identification in the form of

analepses in each novel. Concerning narrative situation, Keen (98) argues that because first-

person voice creates the illusion of reality, it might be less effective in evoking empathetic

response from readers, because the work’s fictionality unleashes readers’ emotional

responsiveness. Based on Keen’s text it is hard to say whether or not first person narration

might evoke a stronger empathetical response than the narrated monologue, also known as

free indirect discourse, Sanderson uses, but it is agreed that “narrated monologue has a strong

effect on readers’ responses to characters” (Keen 96), which is the case in The Stormlight

Archive as well.

In analyzing readers’ sympathy for the characters, I use Howard Sklar’s definition of

narrative sympathy from his study The Art of Sympathy in Fiction: Forms of Ethical and

Emotional Persuasion. He lists four elements necessary for sympathy: 1. Awareness of

suffering as “something to be alleviated,” 2. Frequently, the judgement that the suffering of

another is undeserved or unfair, 3. Negative, unpleasant or uncomfortable feelings on behalf

of the sufferer, and 4. Desire to help (Sklar 35). I disregard the last element, since the fictional

characters are beyond the readers’ ability to help. Sklar (34) himself also states that the active,

altruistic, response is not always the result of the emotions. Because of the stories chosen for

Sklar’s study and the “daily life” understanding of the word sympathy as feeling sorry for

someone, Sklar confines his discussion to sympathy for negative emotions. In my thesis, I

need to use a broader definition of sympathy and include “feeling for the joys of

others” (Sklar 26), since readers’ feel sympathy for the joys and accomplishments of the

characters in The Stormlight Archive.

In his study of narratives, Sklar uses Sternberg’s theory of “primacy and recency

effects” (57). Sternberg present four strategies of rhetorical control in Expositional Modes and

Temporal Ordering in Fiction, the first is the “natural” manner, which “involves no dynamic

informational manipulation” (98), in other words, the primacy effect, that is, the first

impression, created in the beginning of the story is not altered by any future recency effects.

The next two strategies involve recency effects that manipulate the primacy effect, but do not

“demolish the reader’s first impressions” (Sternberg 99), like the last one, “the rise and fall of

first impressions” (Sternberg 99), does. The analepses in the second and third novel of The

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Stormlight Archive create recency effects for the characters Shallan and Dalinar respectively.

All of Sklar’s four selected stories for his study are different from The Stormlight Archive,

because they are short stories and they involve “unsympathetic” characters (Sklar 4) that he

studies. While the influence of the primacy and recency effects on the characters in his chosen

stories is not directly comparable to the characters in The Stormlight Archive, the analepses

are able to have influence on readers’ perception of the characters and therefore create

recency effects.

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2. Kaladin

Kaladin is the main protagonist of the first novel. Because of the way the first novel begins,

the readers’ empathy is directed toward Kaladin due to the narrative situation (Keen 93). The

first section of the novel is a prelude to the whole series, which takes place 4500 years before

the prologue, where the Assassin in White kills the king of Alethkar. The first actual chapter

of the novel is set five years after the prologue, and the focalizing character in the first

chapter, titled “Stormblessed”, dies at the end of the chapter. The second chapter takes place

later, this time eight months after the first chapter, and the “Stormblessed” soldier from the

first chapter, Kaladin, who is the focalizer, is suddenly a slave branded with a shash glyph,

that is, dangerous. The following chapter is also set in a different place, focalized again on a

new character, Shallan, in the city of Kharbranth. This means that, including the prelude and

the prologue, the first five chapters in the novel are all set in different places, which entails

that when the fourth chapter is focalized again on Kaladin, it immediately gives the sense that

he is at least one of the protagonists in the story, as he is the first with two focalizing chapters

(in addition to being the title character of the first chapter). He is also the most frequent

focalizing character in The Way of Kings, and the character with the most focalizing chapters

in the whole series up to date, followed by Shallan and Dalinar ("The Stormlight Archive/

Statistical analysis”).

Readers’ empathy toward Kaladin is built in three ways all relating to character

identification (Keen 93), in addition to the narrative situation. The first one is that he is the

hero of the story. This aspect of him is evident even in the first chapter of the book, where his

men call him “Stormblessed.” There are several moments, or events, in the story that

emphasize his heroic aspect. These events will be discussed in chapter 2.1. The second

element that enables readers to empathize with the character is his relationship with Syl, the

honorspren he creates a bond with in order to become a Knight Radiant. Through Kaladin’s

relationship with Syl, whom only he sees most of the time, readers get an additional way of

entering into his thinking, in addition to him being the focalizer. Because Syl is a honorspren,

she is supposed to know what is right (WoR 511), which means that she acts as a sort of moral

compass for Kaladin. At times, Kaladin’s relationship with Syl also evokes readers’ sympathy

toward Kaladin. The empathy readers feel for Syl also influences the empathy, as well as the

sympathy, readers feel for Kaladin. These aspects will be discussed in chapter 2.2. The third

element is the one the narratives of all three characters share, analepses. For Kaladin, the

analepses are in the first novel, which means that the analepses do not create a similar recency

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effect for him as they do for Shallan and Dalinar. The analepses in Kaladin’s case help build

the character, and they give readers another window into his thinking, which in turn enables

character identification. The questions Kaladin struggles with in the analepses, situated

mostly in his youth, are returned to later when he is making decisions that lead to his heroic

action in the story. The analepses are discussed in chapter 2.3.

2.1 Kaladin as the Hero

In his first focalizing chapter in The Way of Kings, Kaladin is a slave. However, already in the

first chapter of the novel, the readers have been given the image of a man who has been

named “Stormblessed” due to his luck and battle prowess, and is revered by his soldiers. This

image enables the readers to immediately sympathize with him, even if it is not yet known

why he was made a slave. His first act of “heroic” behavior already comes in this chapter,

when he, prompted by Syl and his father’s voice: “Can you really leave him, son? Let him die

when you could have helped?” (WoK 57), tries to save a fellow slave, because his nature will

not let him ignore the slave.

Kaladin’s qualities as a good person and an amazing soldier are established in the first

few chapters of the series. He is also called a hero multiple times in the series, not least by

Dalinar, and the king of Alethkar. His behavior throughout the series is heroic, as he wants to

protect everyone, and most of the time does that. However, certain moments in the story are

what really complement the empathic nature of his heroism. Readers get a glimpse of this in

one of the analepses, when he grabs a quarterstaff for the first time: Something changed in that moment. Kal felt an energy as he held the weapon, an excitement that washed away his pain. He spun, smashing the staff into one of Jost’s hands. Jost let go with that hand, screaming. Kal brought his weapon around and slammed it into the boy’s side. Kal had never held a weapon before, never been in a fight any more dangerous than a wrestling match with Tien. But the length of wood felt right in his fingers. He was amazed by how wonderful the moment felt. (WoK 254)

There is clearly something special about Kaladin, as even in his youth he instinctively knows

how to use a weapon. His goodness is also emphasized in the scene, because he stops his

attack once he realizes that he has hurt Jost (WoK 254). The first real moment of virtuosity,

however, comes when Kaladin performs a kata with a spear in the chasms in front of his

bridgemen.

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His bridge crew has been assigned to scavenging duty, which means that they lower

themselves into the deep chasms of the Shattered Plains and look for anything valuable left by

soldiers, who have died in the clashes with the Parshendi. Kaladin picks up a spear and

reminisces about his time as a soldier, and is taunted by his men: It appeared that there was something that would pull the bridgemen out of their silent stupors: loathing for Kaladin. Others began talking, calling gibes. “… his fault we’re down here …” “… wants to run us ragged during our only free time, just so he can feel important …” “… sent us to carry rocks to show us he could shove us around …” “… bet he’s never held a spear in his life.” (WoK 397–398)

Kaladin listens to their taunts for a while, but then, shuts them out and goes elsewhere in his

mind: And Kaladin was in another place. He was listening to Tukks chide him. He was listening to Tien laugh. He was hearing his mother tease him in her clever, witty way. He was on the battlefield, surrounded by enemies but ringed by friends. He was listening to his father tell him with a sneer in his voice that spears were only for killing. You could not kill to protect. (WoK 398)

He performs an advanced kata, a training exercise “meant to work the muscles and make you

practice the basic jabs, thrusts, and sweeps” (WoK 399), so amazing that it makes his crew

stare at him in stunned silence, and then jump back to work once he orders them, which they

would have not done before. His second in command, Teft, remarks that “I’ve seen katas

before. But never one like that” (WoK 399). Even though Kaladin does not do anything

heroic, he is just performing a training routine, the level of skill he does it with makes him

seem like a hero, and that he can actually save his bridge crew, as he has promised himself he

will.

Sklar compares readers’ immersion into fiction to a “dream state” (19), that is, the

experience of reading is comparable to dreaming. I would argue that, while these moments

can be considered dream-like because of the way they are written, a more apt comparison

would be a movie montage. The changing of pace by using the short paragraphs that refer to

different times or locations immerse the readers into the moment and transport them in their

minds with Kaladin into these places. It is as if readers can see Tukks chiding Kaladin,

followed by his brother laughing, his mother teasing and his father’s line from an analepsis:

“His father snorted. ‘That’s like trying to stop a storm by blowing harder. Ridiculous. You

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can’t protect by killing’” (WoK 155–156). The effect is stronger than it would be if the

sentences would all be lumped into a single paragraph. Then Kaladin springs into action and

performs the kata. The scene can be compared to a superhero movie, where the hero finally

finds the strength inside him to defeat the villain, even if, in this case, Kaladin does not fight

anyone. The familiarity helps readers empathize with the moment and creates a stronger

relationship to Kaladin.

The superhero comparison is more apparent in the moments when he says the Second and

Third Ideals of the Knights Radiant. Before saving Dalinar and his army in The Way of Kings,

he runs out of stormlight and is so exhausted that he cannot even stand. His men continue

without him knowing that their effort is doomed. Again, Kaladin thinks about the past, this

time all the men he has lost. Then his brother’s fate is finally revealed to the readers. Kaladin

being unable to protect him is his biggest regret, and now he is watching his men run toward

certain death. The same immersive effect, like with the kata earlier, is created again through

single sentence paragraphs: “All I wanted to do was protect them,” he whispered. “That’s why I’ve come. The Words, Kaladin.” “They’re going to die. I can’t save them. I—” Amaram slaughtered his men in front of him. A nameless Shardbearer killed Dallet. A lighteyes killed Tien. No. (WoK 924–925)

He gets up, picks up a spear for the first time after the kata, and jumps alone to the other side

of the chasm from the bridge his men are putting in place. The climax to the moment happens

when Kaladin whispers the Second Ideal of his Order of the Knights Radiant, Windrunners: “I

will protect those who cannot protect themselves” (WoK 926), which itself is already a heroic

ideal: A crack shook the air, like an enormous clap of thunder, though the sky was completely clear. Teft stumbled back—having just set the bridge in place—and found himself gaping with the rest of Bridge Four. Kaladin exploded with energy. A burst of whiteness washed out from him, a wave of white smoke. Stormlight. The force of it slammed into the first rank of Parshendi, tossing them backward, and Teft had to hold his hand up against the vibrancy of the light. “Something just changed,” Moash whispered, hand up. “Something important.” (WoK 926)

The effect of the moment is emphasized by the fact that Teft is the focalizer, as the

perspective is given through a spectator, instead of Kaladin himself. He fights like a “living

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storm of steel, wood, and determination” (WoK 926), and saves Dalinar, his son, and what is

left of their army after Sadeas’s betrayal.

The Third Ideal is even more “cinematic.” He has effectively broken his oath with Syl by

agreeing to help assassinate Elhokar, which has caused him to lose his Surgebinding powers,

and he also believes that Syl is dead as a consequence. In this scene, the montage element

does not come from glimpses into the past. Kaladin is deadly injured and realizes why it is

right to protect Elhokar, even though he is a bad king. He hears a conversation between Syl

and the Stormfather, the de facto leader of the spren: Cold air. Rain. Yelling? Very distant? He knew that voice. . . . “Syl?” Kaladin whispered, blood on his lips. “Syl?” Nothing. (1013) —- Shouting. Kaladin heard it now, as if it were closer. He is mine! a feminine voice said. I claim him. HE BETRAYED HIS OATH. —- I don’t care. HE WILL KILL YOU. —- The Words, Kaladin. That was Syl’s voice. You have to speak the Words! I FORBID THIS. YOUR WILL MATTERS NOT! Syl shouted. YOU CANNOT HOLD ME BACK IF HE SPEAKS THE WORDS! THE WORDS, KALADIN! SAY THEM! (WoR 1013–1015)

The conversation happens in the “background” of the scene, almost like a voice-over, while

Kaladin struggles to stand up to his friend Moash and his associate, whose aim is to kill

Elhokar. Because of what happened when Kaladin said the Second Ideal, the readers

immersion is even increased in expectation. Additionally, the fact that Kaladin finally realizes

that he is supposed to protect Elhokar instead of removing him like he would a leg shattered

beyond repair (WoR 751) makes the moment even more empathic, as most readers have

probably been waiting for the realization for hundreds of pages. Again, short paragraphs are

used to emphasize the moment, especially when he says the Third Ideal: “I will protect even those I hate,” Kaladin whispered through bloody lips. “So long as it is right.” A Shardblade appeared in Moash’s hands. A distant rumbling. Thunder. THE WORDS ARE ACCEPTED, the Stormfather said reluctantly.

12 “Kaladin!” Syl’s voice. “Stretch forth thy hand!” She zipped around him, suddenly visible as a ribbon of light. “I can’t . . .” Kaladin said, drained. “Stretch forth thy hand!” He reached out a trembling hand. Moash hesitated. Wind blew in the opening in the wall, and Syl’s ribbon of light became mist, a form she often took. Silver mist, which grew larger, coalesced before Kaladin, extending into his hand. Glowing, brilliant, a Shardblade emerged from the mist, vivid blue light shining from swirling patterns along its length. Kaladin gasped a deep breath as if coming fully awake for the first time. The entire hallway went black as the Stormlight in every lamp down the length of the hall winked out. For a moment, they stood in darkness. Then Kaladin exploded with Light. —- Behind Kaladin, frost crystalized on the ground, growing backward away from him. A glyph formed in the frost, almost in the shape of wings. —- “The Knights Radiant,” Kaladin said softly, “have returned.” (WoR 1015)

Once again, Kaladin explodes with light as a consequence of the Ideal. The visual effect of

the scene is increased with the wings that are crystalized from the frost. The scene is followed

by Kaladin saving Dalinar from the Assassin in White, where again the visual elements are

used to emphasize Kaladin’s ascension to a full Knight Radiant: And then, like a falling star, a blazing fireball of light and motion shot down in front of Dalinar. It crashed into the ground, sending out a ring of Stormlight like white smoke. At the center, a figure in blue crouched with one hand on the stones, the other clutching a glowing Shardblade. His eyes afire with a light that somehow made the assassin’s seem dull by comparison, he wore the uniform of a bridgeman, and bore the glyphs of slavery on his forehead. The expanding ring of smoky light faded, save for a large glyph—a swordlike shape—which remained for a brief moment before puffing away. “You sent him to the sky to die, assassin,” Kaladin said, Stormlight puffing from his lips, “but the sky and the winds are mine. I claim them, as I now claim your life.” (WoR 1025–1026)

Kaladin being like a “falling star, a blazing fireball of light” and the glyph that forms after his

landing are elements that can, once again, be associated with a superhero, the landing

especially is very superman-like.

The association of the elements help readers empathize with Kaladin, and the importance

of the scenes make readers feel elated sympathy for Kaladin. The kata enables him to gain his

bridge crew’s respect and bring some hope into their miserable lives, which Kaladin struggles

with before the kata. The Second Ideal not only helps him save Dalinar, but he realizes that he

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has to do something, he has to be better than the others: “Somebody has to start, son.

Somebody has to step forward and do what is right, because it is right. If nobody starts, then

others cannot follow” (WoK 913). The Third Ideal and realizing he has to save Elhokar make

him realize that “This was the man he wanted to be” (WoR 1014). He wants to be the man,

who protects people. All these events are a long way coming in the novels, built up by

Kaladin figuring out what is right and what is wrong, which will be discussed in the next

section. However, they also create the opportunity for Sanderson to enable the readers

sympathize with Kaladin in Oathbringer, when the moment for the Fourth Ideal comes.

The scene of the Fourth Ideal is similar to earlier ones, except the effect is much stronger.

The build up to the Fourth Ideal begins during the journey in Shadesmar, when readers are

given short analepses of Kaladin’s life as a soldier and a slave. There are also few instances

when windspren, which are very rarely seen in Shadesmar, circle around Kaladin, indicating

that the Fourth Ideal will finally give him his Knights Radiant Shardplate. When the time

comes for the Fourth Ideal, Kaladin is down on his knees in Shadesmar after running out of

Stormlight when fighting four of the fused, the Voidbringer’s Surgebinders. Kaladin thinks

about his men, and “of course, he thought of Tien” (OB 1129). However, the montage element

of the scene is much greater this time, because the chapter has ten different focalizers, most of

them men who are fighting for their lives in Thaylenah, not the least Dalinar, who is having a

mental battle with Odium, the god of the Voidbringers. Kaladin needs to say the Words of the

Fourth Ideal in order to get to Thaylenah to protect Dalinar. The build up to the coming

explosion of light is much bigger than before, which is why readers sympathize greatly with

Kaladin when he cannot say the Words, because he is not strong enough. The failure might

disappoint readers and make Kaladin less empathetic, especially as the Fourth Ideal would

finally reveal how Shardplates, the armor of Knights Radiant, are formed. The epigraph for

chapter 86 reads: “My spren claims that recording this will be good for me, so here I go.

Everyone says I will swear the Fourth Ideal soon, and in so doing, earn my armor. I simply

don’t think that I can. Am I not supposed to want to help people?” (OB 823) However, as

evident from the other Windrunners’ hesitation from thousands of years ago, the failure to say

the Words does not come as a total surprise. Earlier, Kaladin froze in a battle in Kholinar,

because he saw his friends fighting his friends and did not know who to protect, and therefore

is mentally damaged all their time in Shadesmar. However, the way the chapter reads, the

failure hits readers very hard, and brings forth a lot of sympathy for Kaladin.

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All these events as singular scenes strengthen readers empathy for Kaladin with the

familiarity and character identification they bring. The scenes create for Kaladin an image of a

hero with nearly unmatched abilities and superlative Ideals. This increases readers’ empathy

for the character, because readers can relate him to other similar, already familiar, heroic

characters. The inability to say the Fourth Ideal, on the other hand, makes Kaladin’s character

more relatable in another way, because it makes him seem more human, and not just a heroic

figure. The struggles that Kaladin goes through leading up to these moments and saying the

Ideals are discussed in the next chapter.

2.2 Kaladin’s Relationship with Syl

Kaladin’s relationship with Syl begins in his first focalizing chapter. She is the reason he tries

to save one of the other slaves, rather than just being resigned to his own fate as a slave. Syl

asks him “So why don’t you fight?” (WoK 55) when he is his usual self, wallowing in misery,

and seeming like he has given up on hope of a better life. Once Kaladin is assigned to the

bridge crews in the Shattered Plains and he realizes the hopelessness of the situation, he is

again miserable, and goes to the “honor chasm” to kill himself. However, Syl again questions

his lack of fighting spirit and says that Kaladin could help the other men in the bridge crews,

and since Kaladin considers them already dead, failure would not actually matter (WoK 160).

At this point, the readers, or Kaladin, do not yet know what Syl is, but already she can be seen

as a positive influence on Kaladin. Kaladin’s regular mood is not very relatable, since his

thoughts are quite dark at times, and even if readers can empathize with him, his thoughts

might make readers want to distance themselves from him.

The readers’ relationship with Kaladin and Syl grows stronger as their bond is

strengthened, and since Syl is supposed to know what is right and what is wrong, at times it is

easier to empathize with her than it is with Kaladin. In the first novel, the two do not have

fundamental differences in their opinions. Syl functions as Kaladin’s aide, so to speak, on his

journey toward being a Knights Radiant, although for most of the novel, Kaladin is not aware

of what the goal of his journey is. Syl echoes many of the readers’ thoughts, especially when

Kaladin is in danger of turning back into the “wretch, who has given up because he sees no

alternative” (WoK 576). She tells Kaladin that he is on the right path and should continue on

it, even if he does not know why: “Journey before destination,” Syl whispered on Kaladin’s shoulder. “I like that.” “Why?” Kaladin asked, kneeling down to untie the dead bridgeman’s sandals.

15 “Because,” she replied, as if that were explanation enough. “Teft is right, Kaladin. I know you want to give up. But you can’t.” (WoK 608)

She is also a large part of the reason why Kaladin chooses to help Dalinar’s army in the end of

The Way of Kings, even though he does not owe them anything: She stared eastward, her expression horrified, eyes wide and sorrowful. It was the face of a child watching a brutal murder that stole her innocence. Kaladin turned and slowly looked in the direction she was staring. Toward the Tower. Toward Dalinar Kholin’s desperate army. (912) —- “Are windspren attracted to wind,” she asked softly, “or do they make it?” “I don’t know,” Kaladin said. “Does it matter?” “Perhaps not. You see, I’ve remembered what kind of spren I am.” “Is this the time for it, Syl?” “I bind things, Kaladin,” she said, turning and meeting his eyes. “I am honorspren. Spirit of oaths. Of promises. And of nobility.” (913)

She implies that the reason she chose Kaladin to bond with is that she sees him as noble and

honorable. The readers also recognize this aspect of Kaladin, in part because of his constant

desire to protect people and because his actions as the leader of his bridge crew. Such

instances, and the fact that Syl wants Kaladin to help Dalinar, are what makes readers

empathize with Syl, and the empathy readers feel for Kaladin is increased due to the fact that

readers also empathize with Syl, who also empathizes with Kaladin.

The empathy readers feel for Syl may occasionally make readers feel less empathy and

sympathy for Kaladin. This is especially true in the second novel, where Kaladin’s bad

decisions effectively kill Syl, before Kaladin swears the Third Ideal and renews the bond.

Assassinating the king obviously goes against the honor and nobility Syl and their bond

represents, but Kaladin does not see that because of his blind hatred of the lighteyes. In

Alethkar, people who have light eye color, “lighteyes,” are higher ranking than people with

dark eye color, “darkeyes.” For example, after Dalinar makes Kaladin captain of his guard, he

cannot give Kaladin a higher title than captain, because a higher rank “would cause a whole

mess of problems” (WoK 984), even though the amount of men Kaladin commands effectively

makes him a battalionlord. Although Kaladin has reasons for his hatred of lighteyes, which

will be discussed in the next chapter, it clouds his judgement. He has a hard time of trusting

Dalinar, who gave up his priceless Shardblade for the bridgemen, and is probably the most

honorable man in Roshar. He also has a problem with Dalinar’s son, Adolin, the stupidity of

which Shallan points out:

16 “Yes, because he is the one storming around with alternating scowls and insults,” Shallan said. “Adolin Kholin, the most difficult man to get along with on the Shattered Plains. I mean look at him! He’s so unlikable!” She gestured with the pencil toward where Adolin was laughing with the darkeyed water boys. The groom walked up with Adolin’s horse, and Adolin took his Shardplate helm off the carrying post, handing it over, letting one of the water boys try it on. It was ridiculously large on the lad. Kaladin flushed as the boy took a Shardbearer’s pose, and they all laughed again. (WoR 813–814)

Kaladin is determined to hate lighteyes, no matter what, and Syl is determined to make him

see the error of his ways, because it is leading him to the wrong path. The seething hatred of

lighteyes is so evident that it makes Syl afraid of telling Kaladin that she is basically a

lighteyed spren: ‘Kaladin glared at Syl, who pulled down into the oversized poncho she’d

bought. “Azure is a bounty hunter,” she said in a small voice. “And I’m … I’m kind of like a

spren lighteyes. I didn’t want you to know. In case you hated me, like you hate them”’ (OB

957–958). The fact that Syl believes that Kaladin could hate her is a really low point for

Kaladin in the eyes of the readers. Most of the time his hatred of lighteyes is an unlikable

feature, but the fact that he can make Syl afraid of telling about herself to him makes him

really unsympathetic for readers. However, Syl herself alleviates the situation by making a

joke right after the revelation, and because the empathy for her, readers may not judge

Kaladin so harshly.

Syl’s worry for Kaladin increases readers’ empathy and sympathy for her, as well as

readers’ sympathy and antipathy for Kaladin. In addition, Kaladin’s brooding nature is an

unsympathetic element Syl addresses throughout the series, which adds to the empathy

readers feel for Syl, which has an effect on readers’ feelings for Kaladin. Both elements, Syl’s

worry and Kaladin’s nature, are especially evident when Kaladin is thrown to prison by

Elhokar in Words of Radiance. Kaladin protects Adolin, when he is fighting a disadvantaged

duel against four men. Kaladin and Adolin manage to win the duel and Adolin asks Elhokar

for a boon in the form of a duel against Sadeas, which was their plan all along. Kaladin sees

his opportunity and asks for a boon for himself, as he wants a duel against Amaram. Elhokar

instead throws him in prison, because the boons are only for lighteyes to ask. Once again,

Kaladin thinks that lighteyes are to blame:

“This,” Kaladin said, looking at her, “is what comes of trusting lighteyes. Never again, Syl.”

“Kaladin . . .” He closed his eyes, turning and lying down on the cold stone bench. He was in a cage once again. (WoR 679)

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In prison, he thinks that killing Elhokar is the right thing to do, which Syl does not like at all:

“All right, fine. He’s not. But the king is. Admit it, Syl. Elhokar is a terrible king. At first he lauded me

for trying to protect him. Now, at the snap of his fingers, he’s willing to execute me. He’s a child.” “Kaladin, you’re scaring me.” “Am I? You told me to trust you, Syl. When I jumped down into the arena, you said this time things would be different. How is this different?” She looked away, seeming suddenly very small. “Even Dalinar admitted that the king had made a big mistake in letting Sadeas wiggle out of the challenge,” Kaladin said. “Moash and his friends are right. This kingdom would be better off without Elhokar.” Syl dropped to the floor, head bowed. (WoR 726)

This line of thinking is what leads to Syl’s death, although spren do not die completely like

humans do. Kaladin becomes less sympathetic, and even less empathetic, for the readers,

because he should be able to realize that he is wrong. His actions, which have up to this point

strengthened the bond between him and Syl, are now weakening it. He has trouble infusing

stormlight, which he realizes is an effect of the bond weakening, but still thinks that he is

right and Syl is wrong, because spren have a “stupid, simplistic morality” (WoR 801). Syl dies

while protecting Kaladin from the fall into the chasms, and only comes back when Kaladin

swears the Third Ideal. Because the readers empathize with Syl, who is a lovable character,

Kaladin effectively killing her makes him very unsympathetic. Also, even if readers think that

Kaladin is right in thinking that Elhokar should not be the king, what it does to Syl makes it

harder to empathize with him.

In turn, in Oathbringer when the rescue party is taken to Shadesmar, readers’ empathy for

Syl, as well as for Adolin, makes Kaladin more sympathetic. Kaladin is broken by the events

in Kholinar, where he saw his friends fighting his friends and could not choose who to

protect. His demeanor, after landing into Shadesmar, also evokes readers’ sympathy for him: The bridgeman knelt on the stone, head bowed, shoulders slumped. Storms … Adolin had been forced to carry him away from the battle, numb and broken. Looked like that emotion had caught up to him again. Kaladin’s spren—Adolin could only guess that was the identity of the pretty girl in blue—stood beside him, one hand resting protectively on his back. “Kaladin’s not well,” she said. (OB 857)

Syl and Adolin both try to cheer up Kaladin during their journey in Shadesmar, because they

feel sympathy for him. Syl even encourages Kaladin to pursue Shallan’s affections, because

one of her personas is clearly into Kaladin, and Kaladin likes Shallan as well. Her actions

enhance readers’ sympathy for Kaladin, and Kaladin’s refusal to pursue Shallan in turn

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enhances readers’ empathy for him, because the readers can see that Adolin is right for

Shallan. Empathy and sympathy for Kaladin is also enhanced by his worry for Syl, who is

taken prisoner by other honorspren in order to prevent her from fleeing again.

Kaladin’s relationship with Syl has a major effect on readers’ sympathy and empathy for

him. Because Syl is a honorspren and therefore knows right from wrong, we as readers expect

morally correct decisions from the heroic Kaladin. So, when his decisions are in line with

what Syl wants him to do, the readers empathize and sympathize with him more, whereas

when his decisions go against what Syl wants, he becomes less empathetic and less

sympathetic, and readers may even feel antipathy toward him. Readers’ emotions are also

affected by Syl’s feelings toward Kaladin, because readers also empathize with Syl, and

therefore share her feelings.

2.3 The Effect of the Analepses

The analepses of the first novel take place during Kaladin’s youth, apart from the final ones

that tell the events of the novel’s first chapter, “Stormblessed”, with Kaladin as the focalizer,

and the betrayal he keeps referring to throughout the novel. The major theme in the analepses

is the question of whether he should be a soldier, like he wants to, or a surgeon like his father.

Kaladin reflects on this choice in almost all of the analepses. Eventually the choice is in a way

taken away from him, because after he makes the choice to become a surgeon, he instead

volunteers for the army in order to protect his brother, who is drafted. This back and forth

between the two choices takes place simultaneously (but not chronologically) with his growth

into a Knights Radiant, which is a bit of both surgeon and soldier, during his time in Sadeas’s

bridge crews.

As previously mentioned, the analepses do not create a recency effect in terms of readers’

emotions because of their location in the first novel of the series. Rather, with the analepses

Sanderson fortifies the primacy effect the readers get from the first chapters Kaladin features

in. With the help of the analepses, Sanderson builds the character by explaining the reasons

for Kaladin’s constant pondering of what he is supposed to do, and by giving reasons to his

hatred of lighteyes. The analepses in some parts also work against the heroic first impression

of Kaladin, however, the effect does not come straight from the analepses. The effect comes

later through Kaladin’s thoughts, when he realizes that some of the things he has learned

during the analepses are wrong, like with the assassination of Elhokar. Before he chooses to

protect Elhokar, he practices spear forms in order to calm himself, because he cannot figure

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out how his decision to assassinate Elhokar is wrong in Syl’s eyes. He remembers something

that was said to him when his brother died: “Gotta do what you can to stay alive, son. Turn a

liability into an advantage whenever you can. Remember that, if you live” (WoK 924). He

realizes that it is the wrong way of thought, because it led to his brother’s death, and now he

is applying it to his own actions: Tien’s own squadleader had sacrificed the untrained to gain a moment’s advantage. That squadleader had spoken to Kaladin after it was all over. Gotta do what you can to stay alive. . . . It made a twisted, horrible kind of sense. It hadn’t been Tien’s fault. Tien had tried. He’d still failed. So they’d killed him. Kaladin fell to his knees in the water. “Almighty, oh Almighty.” The king . . . The king was Dalinar’s Tien. (WoR 977)

This realization eventually leads him to the Third Ideal, but, even before the words of the

Ideal come to him, he chooses to protect Elhokar, because he realizes it is the right thing to

do. Even if the readers might not always agree with Kaladin’s thinking, there are many points

in the story where his contemplation leads him to the morally right decision, which increases

readers’ empathy for him.

Another example of contemplation and analepses playing a part in the heroic moments

for Kaladin is before the Second Ideal. Kaladin feels that he does not owe Dalinar anything,

he does not need to try to save him at the expense of his and his men’s lives. However, his

father’s words echoed from one of the analepses, in which he also says something that goes

against Kaladin’s reasoning to kill Elhokar, which is repeated when he is in prison, make him

rescue Dalinar: “I owe you nothing, Kholin.” And his father’s voice seemed to whisper a reply. Somebody has to start, son. Somebody has to step forward and do what is right, because it is right. If nobody starts, then others cannot follow. Dalinar had come to help Kaladin’s men, attacking those archers and saving Bridge Four. The lighteyes don’t care about life, Lirin had said. So I must. So we must. (WoK 913)

The references to the analepses and Kaladin’s reasoning that lead to the heroic moments in the

story make the moments more satisfactory to the readers, because not only do the readers get

to read the “cinematic” events, the readers also get to read what has led up to them. This is

emphasized when Kaladin finally makes the correct decision and advancing on his journey

with the Knights Radiant.

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By telling the story of Kaladin’s youth, the analepses also give the background to

Kaladin’s hatred of the lighteyes. In the series, as mentioned earlier, lighteyes are higher in

status than darkeyes. This is not true of every nation, but in Alethi society nearly every

lighteyes has a higher rank than any darkeyes. In his youth, Kaladin imagines that lighteyes

are like the heroic soldiers from the stories: “Brightlord Amaram! The noble lighteyed general

who watched over northern Alethkar. Kal wanted so much to see a real lighteyes, not stuffy

old Wistiow. A soldier, like everyone talked about, like the stories were about” (WoK 155).

His own experience of lighteyes in the analepses is limited to Wistiow, his daughter Laral,

who is Kaladin’s friend, and Roshone, who takes over as citylord when Wistiow dies.

Roshone torments Kaladin’s family, because he thinks that Kaladin’s father stole a lot of

spheres, which is the currency of Roshar, from Wistiow after his death in order to finance

Kaladin becoming a surgeon. Roshone is part of the reason why Kaladin hates lighteyes,

especially because he makes Amaram draft Kaladin’s younger brother into the army, which

leads to Tien’s death.

However, the major reason for the hatred is Amaram himself. In the analepsis that

portrays the events of the novel’s first chapter focalized through Kaladin, Kaladin saves

Amaram’s life by killing a Shardbearer, which is one of Kaladin’s heroic feats, since a regular

soldier killing a Shardbearer with a Shardplate and a Shardblade is something that happens

mostly in legends. By law, Kaladin owns both the plate and the blade, because he killed the

Shardbearer, but Amaram repays his debt for his life to Kaladin by taking the plate and the

blade for himself, killing all Kaladin’s men and branding Kaladin a slave. Amaram is the

lighteyes who according to Kaladin, is “supposed to be better than the others!” (WoK 704)

The analepses enable the readers to empathize, at least in part, with Kaladin’s hatred of

the lighteyes. He has been wronged many times, and has a reason for his hatred. One of

Keen’s proposals can be inversely related to Kaladin’s hatred of lighteyes. Keen proposes that

“readers’ perception of a text’s fictionality plays a role in subsequent empathetic response, by

releasing readers from the obligations of self-protection through skepticism and

suspicion” (88). The whole concept of lighteyes being better than darkeyes is very similar to

racism, which might make the readers want to distance themselves from taking sides, even

though, in this case, taking Kaladin’s side would be taking the side of the oppressed. The

fictionality of the element in this case is lessened by the fact that it is so close to real life

racism, which might have the opposite effect on the readers, and make the readers protect

themselves instead. The other issue with empathizing with Kaladin’s hatred is that of the four

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most recurring focalizing characters, Kaladin is the only darkeyes, and the readers also

empathize with the other three, Shallan, Dalinar and Adolin. Dalinar seems like the most

honorable man there is, which is actually the reason why Kaladin finds it hard to trust Dalinar,

because he reminds him of Amaram. Adolin is very likable, and even though Shallan has her

own issues, she is clearly a good person. Kaladin’s prejudice against the three just based on

their eye color is one of his most unlikeable traits, and it makes it harder to empathize with

him.

The most important of the analepses is the chapter “Of Alds and Milp”, because it creates

a link between Kaladin’s youth and some of his major decisions in the story, even though “Sas

Nahn”, the chapter where readers learn what Amaram did to Kaladin, might have a more

immediate impact on the readers’ emotions. The words he hears in his mind that lead him to

save Dalinar at the end of the first novel are said by his father in “Of Alds and Milp”, after his

father saves their lighteyed citylord Roshone’s life. Kaladin himself would have let the

citylord die on the surgeon’s table, because “some people—like a festering finger or a leg

shattered beyond repair—just needed to be removed” (WoK 586). This is also his reasoning to

why Elhokar, another “bad” lighteyes, should be killed, and it is repeated in the second novel

at the end of the chapter “The One Who Killed Promises”, in which he is in prison. The link

between the analepsis and the events gives the readers a better understanding of his decisions,

which makes it easier to empathize with Kaladin.

The role of the analepses in the first novel differ from the analepses of the following

novels. In The Way of Kings, the analepses build and fortify the primacy effect to Kaladin’s

character, whereas in the the two other novels the analepses have a recency effect on Shallan

and Dalinar respectively.

2.4 Concluding Remarks

The main ways readers’ emotions for Kaladin are created are his character, both the heroic

and the unsympathetic sides of it, and the heroic moments he has in the series. His character is

influenced by the analepses that explain one of his most unsympathetic features, which is his

hatred of lighteyes. The analepses also help understand the decisions he makes during his

journey to become a Knights Radiant. Kaladin’s relationship with Syl affect the readers’

emotions for Kaladin, both positive and negative, through the empathy and sympathy the

readers have for Syl. The heroic moments have the strongest effect on readers’ empathy and

22

sympathy for him because of the immersion through the moments’ “visual” elements and

because of the elation readers’ feel for Kaladin during these moments.

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3. Shallan

Shallan differs from the two characters due to her narrative situation. In the first novel, she

does not interact with other focalizing characters like Kaladin and Dalinar do, and even in the

other two novels, she does not have a relationship with anyone, in which she shares her

thoughts similarly as the two other main characters do. Kaladin’s relationship with Syl affects

readers’ emotions for him, and Dalinar’s relationship with his family and his spren, the

Stormfather, affect the readers’ view of him. Shallan’s spren, Pattern, comes closest to a

relationship, in which she shares her feelings, but even that relationship is different to what

Kaladin and Syl have, because Pattern is not concerned with morality but lies. Shallan differs

from the other two characters also because she does not have similar heroic moments like

Kaladin and Dalinar do. The only one that comes close is when she drives one of the Unmade

away from Urithiru, but even then she is terrified (OB 310). Readers’ empathy and sympathy

for Shallan is created differently. The growth of Shallan’s character and Shallan herself plays

a major part in evoking readers’ emotions toward her, and it is discussed in chapter 3.1. The

first novel gives the image of a naive and timid young girl, who is not as relatable or easily

empathized with as the other two characters. This image is altered by the recency effect

created by the analepses that give information about her past, which makes the readers’ revise

their opinions about the character. The analepses are discussed in chapter 3.2. The third

element that has a major effect on readers’ emotions toward Shallan is her inner turmoil,

which is discussed in chapter 3.3. All three characters struggle with major questions

throughout the series, but for Shallan the effect of the confusion is stronger, because her

questions about her identity make her change who she is in a drastic way.

3.1 Shallan’s Growth and Readerly Empathy

The first time we as readers meet Shallan, she is in a city called Kharbranth, hoping to

become the ward of Jasnah Kholin, one of the most powerful and infamous women in the

world (WoK 69). Even in the first paragraph of her first focalizing chapter we are introduced

to the image of a country girl far from home: Though she’d often dreamed of traveling, she’d expected to spend her early life sequestered in her family’s manor, only escaping through the books of her father’s library. She’d expected to marry one of her father’s allies, then spend the rest of her life sequestered in his manor. (WoK 61)

This image is enhanced by her somewhat childish imagination: “She’d imagined him getting

that scar on his jaw in a furious sea battle with pirates. The day before, she’d been

24

disappointed to hear it had been caused by loose tackle during rough weather” (WoK 62). Her

behavior also has characteristics that sometimes make her seem younger than she is. She

blushes constantly, which, in fairness, several of the characters do, in all three novels, but

Shallan does it so often that it becomes part of her traits, rather than being an occasional

occurrence, as with the other characters. She is also very naive because of her upbringing,

which is evident in many of her actions. She treats one of the sailors, Yalb, automatically (and

accidentally) as a servant intermediary when paying her porter for transport (WoK 70). Yalb

also needs to “rescue” her from book vendors, who are about to charge her many times the

books’ worth in spheres, which is, in part, possible because Shallan has never used money

before her current trip. The biggest evidence for her naivety is, however, the fact that she falls

in love with Kabsal, an ardent (member of the Vorin church) who cannot marry, and who ends

up poisoning her while trying to assassinate Jasnah, which is why he starts spending time with

Shallan in the first place.

These characteristics themselves are not necessarily negative in the way they affect the

readers. Many readers probably can empathize with arriving in a city or a place that is totally

different from what they are used to, or by the fact that most of us have been naive, or might

still be, at some point of our lives. However, the characteristics can have a negative effect on

readers, because the other two characters, Kaladin and Dalinar, do not possess these

characteristics, and might be more relatable because of that. Although Dalinar shows some

naivety at the end of The Way of Kings, when he gets betrayed by Sadeas after trusting him,

his misplaced trust comes from his visions, not his inexperience. He also learns from his

mistake immediately, unlike Shallan at times. Kaladin is not naive either. He has trusted

lighteyes in the past and it has caused him so much misery that he knows never to trust them

again, even to a point where his mistrust has no basis anymore. Both characters are really

different from Shallan in terms of youthful traits, which highlights Shallan’s blushes and

sometimes adolescent behavior even more, especially since Kaladin is only two years older

than Shallan. Because of these differences between Shallan and the two other main characters,

and because of the fact that Kaladin and Dalinar have considerably more focalizing chapters

in the first novel, forty-six and twenty-eight respectively to Shallan’s fifteen ("The Stormlight

Archive/Statistical analysis”), Shallan is less relatable than the other two characters.

Shallan’s relationship with Jasnah, however, has the biggest impact on making her seem

adolescent in the eyes of the readers. Jasnah not only treats her like a young girl, she

addresses her as “child” regularly (Kabsal does this as well, at first). Their relationship as a

25

not “important enough to wait for” ward-to-be and “one of the most powerful women in the

world” (WoK 63) also creates a contrast that emphasizes Shallan’s youth. The two women

have a teacher–student relationship that not only emphasizes Shallan’s inexperience, but also

enables readers to empathize and sympathize with Shallan. All readers can relate to a teacher–

student dynamic, which makes it easier to empathize with Shallan, whereas some of the

aspects of Jasnah as a teacher make readers sympathize and empathize with Shallan. During

the initial “testing” of Shallan Jasnah asks Shallan what she knows about different fields of

study, and it is easy to sympathize with Shallan when she remarks how unreasonable Jasnah’s

standards are: “Have I not a right to make reasonable demands of my potential students, Miss Davar?” “Reasonable? Your demands are about as reasonable as the ones made of the Ten Heralds on Proving Day! With all due respect, Brightness, you seem to want potential wards to be master scholars already. I may be able to find a pair of eighty-year-old ardents in the city who might fit your requirements. They could interview for the position, though they may have trouble hearing well enough to answer your questions.” (WoK 88)

Because of Shallan’s skillset consisting of visual arts, which Jasnah thinks are a frivolity

(WoK 91), Jasnah cannot accept Shallan as her ward, which makes readers feel sympathy for

Shallan. The teacher–student dynamic also does the opposite at times. While Jasnah’s

standards can be very high, her treatment of Shallan is fair, which makes Shallan's complaints

less relatable. She also highlights some of the unfavorable aspects of Shallan’s behavior,

which makes might make readers sympathize with Jasnah instead. In her response to Shallan’s

criticism to her standards above, she asks:

“I see,” Jasnah replied. “And do you speak with such pique to your parents as well?”

Shallan winced. Her time spent with the sailors had loosened her tongue far too much. Had she traveled all this way only to offend Jasnah? (WoK 88)

Shallan’s reaction to Jasnah’s reproach does not do her any good in the eyes of the readers

either. While as a single event it might be an appropriate reaction, it is just one of many

reactions to avoid any kind of conflict, which is best evidenced by her constant need to

apologize, which is commented on by Jasnah and Kabsal. The constant apologizing makes her

less sympathetic, because it is excessive and therefore may be annoying.

While it is harder to feel sympathy for someone who is clearly naive, especially as

readers do not yet know about Shallan’s past, it does not take away the fact that readers feel

sympathy for Shallan when she is recovering and feeling miserable, after she has been

poisoned and Jasnah learns about Shallan stealing her Soulcaster. However, the sympathy for

26

the misery does not last very long. This is not because readers would feel that Shallan does

not deserve sympathy, but because Shallan herself sets her own misery aside, as she starts to

wonder about something more important: “How had Jasnah survived? How?” (WoK 965)

This is where Shallan’s personal growth really begins. She realizes that Jasnah has eaten

the same poisoned bread as Shallan and Kabsal, but she was not poisoned, which leads her to

deduce that Jasnah has Soulcast the poisoned bread as well as the jam, which was the

antidote, before she knew that Shallan had swapped their Soulcasters. This would mean that

Jasnah had Soulcast herself, not with the device, since the device she had was broken. This

leads to Shallan confronting Jasnah about her ability to Soulcast, and then revealing that she

can do it as well, since she had also Soulcast earlier with the Soulcaster she thought was

working, but was in fact, a fake. When she demonstrates her ability to Jasnah, she needs to

speak a powerful truth in order to Soulcast, which is when she reveals to the Cryptics, which

is a type of spren that once bonded gives the ability to Soulcast and Lightweave, and to the

readers that “I’m a murderer. I killed my father” (WoK 968). Interestingly, while the revelation

about her father probably comes as a shock to the readers, her calm and composed manner

during the scene with Jasnah, and what the events of the scene mean for Shallan as a

character, greatly lessens the effect the murder might have on readers, so the recency effect of

the revelation is not as strong as it could be. In the scene, Shallan confronts Jasnah properly

for the first time, which is highly out of ordinary behavior for her, she enters Shadesmar

consciously for the first time, and she finally comes to a conclusion on what she should do, a

question she has been wondering for most of the novel: “I want to be part of it,” Shallan found herself saying. “Excuse me?” “Whatever you’re doing. Whatever it is you’re researching. I want to be part of it.” “You have no idea what you’re saying.” “I know,” Shallan said. “I’m ignorant. There’s a simple cure for that.” She stepped forward. “I want to know, Jasnah. I want to be your ward in truth. Whatever the source of this thing you can do, I can do it too. I want you to train me and let me be part of your work.” (WoK 969–970)

Even though Shallan has already decided to follow the original plan and deliver Jasnah’s

Soulcaster to her brothers before the assassination attempt, it was not what she really would

have wanted to do. The leap which her character takes during this chapter is enormous, and it

makes readers sympathize in a positive manner with her and feel joy for her, as it is the first

time Shallan really seems to know what she wants to do.

27

The analepses in Words of Radiance have a clear recency effect on Shallan’s character.

The primacy effect that is created during the first novel, when readers judge Shallan knowing

only that her parents are dead, but not how they died, and little about her past, is in retrospect

somewhat unfair toward her character. Shallan’s behavior in The Way of Kings is much more

understandable and appropriate to readers once the events of her past are known. Her timidity

and naivety can be explained by her father, who created a toxic environment for her and her

brothers, and especially for Shallan, since every “wrong” deed she did would be punished, but

she would not be the one who would receive the physical punishment. In light of this, it is

understandable that she avoids all conflict and apologizes constantly. Her sometimes

annoying use of witticisms can be explained by it being one of the only things that brought

light into hers and her brothers’ lives when they were younger. The readers may even feel

sympathy for Shallan because of their own uninformed negative feelings toward her. Whether

or not Sanderson intended such primacy and recency effects to occur when he was writing

The Way of Kings, the changes in her character have a considerable impact on the empathy,

and especially sympathy, readers feel for her during The Words of Radiance. Her naivety and

timidity already start to diminish toward the end of the first novel, and by the end of the

second novel she is a totally different woman. Even Shallan realizes the changes even after

arriving at the Shattered Plains in the chapter “A New Woman,” however, at that point she has

only changed to some extent.

3.2 The Recency Effect of the Analepses

In Words of Radiance, in addition to the analepses, the aspect of Shallan that evokes the most

emotions from readers is the growth of her character, which begins in the confrontation with

Jasnah at the end of the first novel. This is partly due to the fact that she appears in only

fifteen chapters in The Way of Kings, whereas in Words of Radiance, she is the focalizing

character in almost four times as many chapters. Additionally, the nine flashback chapters that

portray her past not only give information about her character, but also explain why she was

the naive and timid girl she is in The Way of Kings. The focus of her inner turmoil also

changes as compared to the first novel. In The Way of Kings, she is concerned about what she

should do, whereas in Words of Radiance, she is more concerned about who she should be.

That is, she cannot fully be herself due to the tragic events of her youth, which she has

blocked from her mind: “You always knew, a voice whispered deep inside of her. You grew up

with horrors, Shallan. You just won’t let yourself remember them” (WoR 37). While the

28

occasional inner turmoil during the first novel might distance the readers from Shallan

emotionally, as it might be difficult to identify with the mind of a love sick teenager, in the

second novel the distance might arise from a different reason. Even though character

identification appears to require only minimal elements (Keen 69), in the case of Shallan, the

fact that she cannot “identify” with herself might also make it harder for readers to do so, an

effect that is even further enhanced in the third novel.

Most of the time, she gives the image of a happy girl, while keeping her negative feelings

inside her. Readers learn more and more that the image is fake, which she also knows herself: “You barely know me,” Shallan said. “How can you be so certain I’ve never done things like this?” “Because you aren’t broken,” Tyn said, expression distant. “Perhaps I’m faking.” (WoR 359)

Tyn, who is her new “teacher” after Jasnah’s tragic death in a shipwreck in the beginning of

the second novel, thinks that Shallan has not gone through experiences that “wrench the soul,

rip it apart” (WoR 359), but readers already know at this point that Shallan was present when

her mother died and that she killed her father. Even if readers do not yet know what actually

happened the night her father died, it was clearly something that wrenches the soul: “This was

terrible, this was awful, but nothing, nothing, could compare to what she’d had to do the night

her father died. She had survived that. She could survive this” (WoR 117).

The horrible experiences she has endured are also the reason why her spren, Pattern,

chose her to bond with, because her mind did not break, even though it should have: “You came to me because of the Voidbringers,” Shallan said, moving closer to the trunk, bloodied rag forgotten in her hand. “Yes. Patterns . . . we . . . us . . . Worry. One was sent. Me.” “Why to me?” “Because of lies.” She shook her head. “I don’t understand.” He buzzed in dissatisfaction. “You. Your family.” “You watched me with my family? That long ago?” “Shallan. Remember . . .” Again those memories. This time, not a garden seat, but a sterile white room. Her father’s lullaby. Blood on the floor. No. She turned away and began cleaning her feet again. “I know . . . little of humans,” Pattern said. “They break. Their minds break. You did not break. Only cracked.” She continued her washing. “It is the lies that save you,” Pattern said. “The lies that drew me.” (WoR 215–16)

29

Even though her mind only “cracked,” she is severely traumatized by the events of her youth,

and thinking that she could do nothing to help Jasnah on the ship does not ease her troubles,

although she does not block it from her mind in the same way she does the earlier horrors.

Every time she starts to think about her mother and what happened to her, her mind in a way

shuts down, as evidenced by the “No” in the quotation above. This mental block not only

shows the readers the gravity of her issues, it is also a way by Sanderson to heighten the

suspense of the narrative and make readers more interested in Shallan’s past. However, even

if the lies are what saved her from breaking, in order to progress further as a Knight Radiant,

which she is aspiring to be, she needs to acknowledge the truth of her past: “You spoke oaths.” Shallan froze. Life before death . . . The words drifted toward her from the shadows of her past. A past she would not think of. “You live lies,” Pattern said. “It gives you strength. But the truth . . . Without speaking truths you will not be able to grow, Shallan. I know this somehow.” (WoR 257)

The truth that is easier for her to speak is the truth about what happened the night her father

died: she killed him. Ever since her mother’s death in the first analepsis, her father’s behavior

grows worse and worse each flashback. He beats his servants, his new wife, even his sons –

the only person he does not for some reason lay a hand on is Shallan. When Shallan sees that

he has gone too far by killing her stepmother, she poisons him. The moment Shallan sees that

her stepmother is dead, a thought comes into her mind: “So it has come to this, Shallan

thought, feeling a strange, detached calm. The lie becomes the truth. This was Shallan’s fault”

(WoR 869). Ever since Shallan’s mother died, everybody has blamed her father for the murder

of her and her lover. However, Shallan has never said he did it, she in fact several times says

that he did not kill her. So when he kills his wife, the lie everyone has told in a way becomes

the truth. However, the truth Shallan cannot speak is that not only did she kill her father, she

killed her mother as well: The world ended, and Shallan was to blame. —- Father gathered her into his arms, and she felt her skin squirming. No. No, this affection wasn’t right. A monster should not be held in love. A monster who killed, who murdered. No. —- Father carried Shallan over the body of a woman in blue and gold. Little blood there. It was the man who bled. Mother lay facedown, so Shallan couldn’t see the eyes. The horrible eyes. —-

30 They passed Father’s strongbox set into the wall. It glowed brightly, light streaming from the cracks around the closed door. A monster was inside. (WoR 136)

The fact that Shallan is the reason everything with her family went wrong is revealed even in

the first analepsis, but readers are left with uncertainty. A eleven-year-old girl could blame

herself for something she has not done, and what the “monster” in the strongbox is is not

explained, so even if Shallan calls herself “a monster who killed,” her involvement is not

explicitly stated. When Shallan finally confronts the truth about what happened, readers learn

that the monster in the strongbox was Shallan’s spren, Pattern. Mother took the knife and came for Shallan. And then . . . And then a sword in Shallan’s hands. “He let everyone believe that he’d killed her,” Shallan whispered. “That he’d murdered his wife and her lover in a rage, when I was the one who had actually killed them. He lied to protect me.” “I know.” “That secret destroyed him. It destroyed our entire family.” (WoR 1059)

Shallan used Pattern as a Shardblade when defending herself – which also happens with Tyn

earlier in the novel – against her mother, who tried to kill her apparently because of her ability

to Lightweave. His father took the blame, which gradually destroyed him and their family.

The analepses have a strong effect on readers’ sympathy for Shallan. It is difficult to not

feel sympathy for someone who has to try to bring light into a family that has a dead mother,

a disturbed and violent father, a gambling brother, a brother who likes to hurt animals, a

brother who has decided to kill himself and a brother who might do something about the

gloom, but is almost never around. What is more, Shallan has to do so after being “cracked”

herself – she does not speak for five months after her mothers death (WoR 268). Nevertheless,

just as Kaladin in The Way of Kings, somewhere within her she finds the spark that makes her

try to change things for the better. Two years after her mother’s death, Shallan starts to

wonder: She did not want to contradict him. He had been good to her. He was always good to her. Yet, shouldn’t someone do something? Helaran might have. He’d left them. It’s growing worse and worse. Someone needs to do something, say something, to change Father. He shouldn’t be doing the things that he did, growing drunk, beating the darkeyes . . . (WoR 451)

In the analepsis, she takes the first small step by coming up with words of a conversation

between her father and their highprince’s son (that she cannot actually hear), and ending it

with a bad pun, making her brothers laugh. At the end of the conversation, Shallan has begun

31

to lessen the gloom: ‘“Well, you should read more of those books, small one,” Balat said. “It

seems brighter in here for it”’ (WoR 455). In the next analepsis, when the family is attending a

festival, she advances her brother’s, Balat’s, love interest without his knowledge and gives her

depressed youngest brother math problems to work on. Wikim is very miserable and ready to

kill himself: Wikim turned away from her, looking out the window toward the trees, away from the fair. “You can’t fix us, Shallan. Jushu will destroy himself. It’s only a matter of time. Balat is becoming Father, step by step. Malise spends one night in two weeping. Father will kill her one of these days, like he did Mother.” “And you?” Shallan asked. It was the wrong thing to say, and she knew it the moment it came out of her mouth. “Me? I won’t be around to see any of it. I’ll be dead by then.” (WoR 524)

However, Shallan’s efforts seem to make a difference, for her brother and for her as well: He scribbled at the mathematical problems she’d left. He was smiling. Warmth. That warmth she felt, a deep glow, was like the joy she had known before. Long ago. Before everything had gone wrong. Before Mother. (WoR 527)

Even if these efforts might seem small for readers, but for Shallan every step is important, and

the analepses really make readers sympathize with Shallan.

In this analepsis, Shallan also meets a messenger, who readers later learn is, at present

time, the King’s Wit, a man who makes fun of those the king cannot, at the Shattered Plains.

The man, also known as Hoid, encourages her to keep going with her efforts to bring light

into darkness, and in the next analepsis, she remembers his words, “Keep cutting at those

thorns, strong one . . . Make a path for the light . . .” (WoR 561) when she is saving her

brother, Jushu, from debt collectors. For avid Sanderson readers, the fact that Hoid

encourages Shallan can increase their empathy for Shallan, because Hoid is a character that

features in several of Sanderson’s novels that take place on other worlds in his Cosmere. Hoid

also has similar encouraging scenes with Kaladin, one in The Way of Kings and one in Words

of Radiance during his miserable time in prison, which may also affect readers emotions

toward Shallan through Hoid.

In the analepses Shallan struggles with a similar problem that Kaladin struggles with, as

everyone around him keeps dying, and he is the one who always survives, whereas in

Shallan’s case his father hurts everyone around her, but not her. This eventually leads to her

poisoning her father after realizing that he has gone too far by killing Shallan’s stepmother.

Readers can empathize with her and understand her decision, even though murder is not

32

something people usually can empathize with. Somehow everything her father has done

previously has not been enough for Shallan, but once she sees her stepmother’s dead body,

she has had enough: Not a crime of the moment. He’d murdered her as punishment. So it has come to this, Shallan thought, feeling a strange, detached calm. The lie becomes the truth. This was Shallan’s fault. (WoR 869)

She poisons a goblet of wine and hands it to her father, and once her father falls, she feels the

same coldness she felt on the day she lost her mother. Even though she goes into shock, she

stands by her decision when they realize that the poison was not strong enough to kill their

father. She wraps her necklace around his neck and twists, while singing the same lullaby he

sang to her in the first analepsis just after her mother’s death: Shallan had to watch as his eyes bulged out, his face turning colors. His body trembling, straining, trying to move. The eyes looked to her, demanding, betrayed. Almost, Shallan could imagine that the storm’s howls were part of a nightmare. That soon she would awaken in terror, and Father would sing to her. As he’d done when she was a child . . . (WoR 873)

Shallan’s actions are excusable, however cold blooded she is during the scene. She seems to

know that what she is doing is, at the same time, wrong and right. She thinks that everything

that happened has been her fault and feels that she needs to be the one to end it as well.

However, when we finally learn the truth about her mother, the fact that even though her

actions started the ruin of her family, it is hard not to feel sympathy for Shallan, because she

was just defending herself, and is not really to blame.

The analepses tell the story of Shallan’s horrendous youth, where she first kills her

mother causing the ruin of her whole family and eventually has to kill her father too, because

of the way he treats his family. Some of the events of the analepses are so disturbing that

some readers might feel personal distress “that causes a turning-away from the provocative

condition of the other” (Keen 4) because of their empathy, which is arguably what Shallan

herself feels because of the events. The analepses evoke readers’ sympathy for Shallan and

have a recency effect on the image of Shallan created during the first novel. The recency

effect created by the analepses matches Sternberg’s third model of rhetorical control, because

the first novel contains “warning-signals and anticipatory cautions” (Sternberg 99) in the form

of hints to Shallan’s past that make the contents of the analepses less surprising, and therefore

reduce the strength of the recency effect. The analepses also explain why Shallan is so broken

33

that her inner turmoil leads her to create multiple personas for herself, which is discussed in

the next chapter.

3.3 Shallan’s Inner Turmoil

Shallan experiences inner turmoil in all three novels. In The Way of Kings, Shallan struggles

with what she should do in Kharbranth. Her original plan was to become Jasnah’s ward, swap

her broken Soulcaster with Jasnah’s working one, and come up with an excuse for returning

home. Shallan, however, has problems with the plan. For one, stealing the Soulcaster is harder

than she thinks, especially as Jasnah does not even accept her as her ward at first. But, more

importantly, Shallan falls in love with studying. When her brother comments via spanreed (a

device that, once attached to pen and paper, copies the writing of a linked spanreed elsewhere)

that it must be difficult for Shallan to be away so long, she reflects: Yes, it was difficult. Difficult not to fall in love with the freedom, difficult not to get too absorbed in her studies. It had been only two months since she’d convinced Jasnah to take her as a ward, but already she felt half as timid and twice as confident. The most difficult thing of all was knowing that it would soon end. Coming to study in Kharbranth was, without doubt, the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to her. (WoK 456)

She really enjoys her time in Kharbranth, and stealing the Soulcaster and returning home

would not only put an end to it, but she would also betray Jasnah, whom she admires: “Once

again, she felt a stab of guilt. Jasnah was taking great pains to instruct her in scholarship, and

she was going to reward the woman by stealing her most valuable possession and leaving a

broken replacement. It made Shallan feel sick” (WoK 462). When she finally has the chance to

steal the Soulcaster, she cannot do so, even if it would mean saving her family, but does it

later anyway as a consequence of Jasnah’s reckless display of Soulcasting.

She experiences similar inner turmoil when thinking about her relationship with Kabsal.

Since he is an ardent, there cannot really be a proper relationship between them. However, he

is the first man she has ever thought about in a romantic way. Because of her secluded

upbringing he “was practically the only man near her age that she’d ever talked to outside of

her father’s careful supervision” (WoK 507). However, just as with the theft of the Soulcaster,

her desire to learn and study is more important to her than a relationship with Kabsal would

be. The “relationship” with Kabsal adds to her naive image, as Jasnah even warns Shallan at

one point that Kabsal probably has ulterior motives (WoK 511), yet Shallan ends up being

betrayed by him anyway.

34

Like the relationship with Kabsal, the plan to steal the Soulcaster does not help her image

in the minds of readers, since Jasnah does nothing that warrants any kind of bad behavior

toward her. Even in the “murder” of the footpads that causes Shallan to steal the Soulcaster,

Shallan herself later absolves Jasnah of guilt, once she has considered the philosophical

questions related to the event. The contrast between the two characters also makes Shallan

look worse, since she herself as the focalizing character creates an almost divine image of

Jasnah due to the constant praise of her wisdom and beauty in Shallan’s thoughts. This

constant praise of Jasnah and belittling herself – “As for his praise of her supposed beauty,

she took that for what it was. A kind, if overstated, mark of affection” (WoK 65) – is just the

beginning of the problems she has with self-identification.

During the early part of the second novel when traveling with slavers after the shipwreck,

she realizes how useful the illusions from her Lightweaving, her ability as a Knights Radiant,

can be: she can make others see her as different, but she can also make herself see her as

different, feel different, or even be different, as later evidenced by her alter ego, Veil: “Your disguise is gone,” Pattern noted. Red hair. Shallan gasped, then immediately shoved her safehand into her pocket. The darkeyed con woman that Tyn had trained [Veil] could go about half-clothed, but not Shallan herself. It just wasn’t right. It was also stupid, and she knew that, but she couldn’t change her feelings. (WoR 497)

This skill is something she almost abuses, although understandably. Why would she not use

her ability to Surgebind to her advantage? Nevertheless, she realizes that she cannot always

rely on her Lightweaving to make others see her as something she is not: “But capturing

Adolin’s attention with illusions would lead her down a difficult path. She couldn’t wear an

illusion always, could she?” (WoR 555) Because he is her betrothed, Adolin is the one person

she cannot use her skill on, as it might lead to some awkward situations later. She also shows

that she is not as naive as she used to be, after using her Lightweaving to convince deserters

to help her: “She pretended these men were heroes, but had no illusions about how quickly

they could change coats in the wrong circumstances” (WoR 310). However, as she realizes

herself, she is still a little out of place with some of her schemes, when she tries to pass as a

darkeyes as Veil: Her mark was worth two hundred and fifty times the cost of the treat. Even in her family’s strained state, this wouldn’t have been considered much money to them. But that was on the level of houses and estates, not the level of street vendors and working darkeyes. “Uh, I don’t think I can change that,” the woman said. “Er . . . citizen.” A title given to a wealthy darkeyes of the first or second nahn.

35 Shallan blushed. How many times was she going to prove just how naive she was? (WoR 487-488)

Readers can see that Shallan trying to be something she is not causes her difficulties. In her

dealings with the dangerous organization called Ghostbloods, she always appears as Veil.

During her first meeting with Mraize, the apparent leader of the group, she is terrified, and

does not even consider the possibility that she might be followed after the meeting, still

showing her naivety, until Pattern alerts her. Once she has completed her first task for the

organization, she accidentally reveals most of her amazing mnemonic capability (she has

effectively eidetic memory) and her drawing skill, even though she has decided to keep them

a secret, since they are a clear link to Shallan. During the meeting, she gets caught up with the

excitement, and again not having considered what might happen, the consequences are

evident after the meeting. This time, she is not followed, as she hides inside an illusion, but

her coachman is killed: “Briefly, while watching Mraize’s excitement over her art, she’d

wanted to like the man. Well, she’d best remember this moment. He’d allowed these murders.

He might not have been the one to slit the coachman’s throat, but he’d all but assured the

others it was all right to remove her if they could” (WoR 635). She seems to forget that she is

not as capable as Tyn, who trained her for a while, just because she has created a persona like

Tyn in Veil. These mishaps might make readers feel less empathy for Shallan, if they feel that

the would not have made the same mistakes themselves.

At this point, the real reason why Shallan creates the second persona for herself is not yet

revealed to readers. Earlier in the novel, Tyn has “figured out” that Shallan is only pretending

to be Shallan Davar in order to try to pull a con on someone at the war camps. Instead of

correcting Tyn, Shallan ponders: “Who would she be for this woman? Who did she need to

be?” (WoR 312) It is not as if she is trying to hide her identity, everyone in the caravans

knows who she is, so why would she need to be someone else? And why does she need to

create Veil?

She creates Veil, because she cannot deal with the Ghostbloods as Shallan Davar. In a

way, Shallan is just another persona she is portraying because she cannot handle her past.

During a scouting expedition on to the plains, there is an assassination attempt on Dalinar. A

bridge is collapsed, Adolin manages to save his Dalinar, but a lot of people fall down into the

chasms. Kaladin and Shallan are the only two survivors, since they are the only ones who can

infuse stormlight, which protects them from the fall. They have a long trek back into the war

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camps and during the trek they talk about their pasts. Kaladin makes the same assumption

about Shallan as Tyn: “All right,” Kaladin said. “Here it is. I can imagine how the world must appear to someone like you. Growing up pampered, with everything you want. To someone like you, life is wonderful and sunny and worth laughing over. That’s not your fault, and I shouldn’t blame you. You haven’t had to deal with pain or death like I have. Sorrow is not your companion.” (WoR 838)

Because of the image Shallan portrays, Kaladin thinks that her life has been all smiles and

sunshine, but a little later when she learns the truth, his reaction is maybe the most powerful

in terms of readers’ emotion for Shallan in the whole novel: He saw it in her eyes. The anguish, the frustration. The terrible nothing that clawed inside and sought to smother her. She knew. It was there, inside. She had been broken. Then she smiled. Oh, storms. She smiled anyway. It was the single most beautiful thing he’d seen in his entire life. (WoR 849)

Kaladin is miserable throughout the series, and even though he has suffered many losses in

his life, his experiences do not really compare to what Shallan has had to go through, and still

Shallan is able to smile when Kaladin cannot. Readers empathy for Kaladin in this scene

influences readers emotions towards Shallan, and Kaladin’s stunned reaction affects the

readers emotions for Shallan.

However, Shallan’s ability to smile is only possible because she has blocked her mother’s

fate from her mind. She is lying to herself by creating the positive outward image and

blocking her mother’s fate from herself, which is not genuine, and therefore affect readers’

emotions for her. The analepsis where Shallan kills her father comes after the chapter where

Kaladin learns that Shallan is broken, but readers need to wait until the beginning of

Oathbringer to learn how broken she truly is. Her belittling comparisons to Jasnah and the

creation of Veil are only glimpses of the crisis she has with self-identification. In her first

appearance in Oathbringer, she seems to be in a similar state of mind as she is in her first

analepsis after her mother’s death, when she has not spoken in five months. In the analepsis,

her brother, Helaran, brings her a sketchbook, which eventually saves her, and in

Oathbringer, she is trying to get salvation from drawing again. However, she cannot get it

anymore: It meant she had to summon her Blade each time. The Blade she’d used to kill her mother. A truth she’d spoken as an Ideal of her order of Radiants. A truth that she could no longer, therefore, stuff into the back of her mind and forget. Just draw. (OB 93)

37

Since she had to speak the Ideal, which for her Order are Truths, at the end of Words of

Radiance, she cannot block it from her mind anymore, and thus Shallan now effectively needs

to be broken. This leads to her not only reverting more and more into Veil, but also to creating

another persona for herself, Brightness Radiant. Brightness Radiant is modeled after her other

teacher, Jasnah, and she can handle the things Shallan, or Veil, cannot: “When Adolin returned

to the room a moment later, he found a poised, calm woman who wasn’t quite Shallan Davar.

Brightness Radiant is her name, she thought. She will go only by title” (OB 162). Her

problems with self-identification go so far that she cannot be herself even with Adolin,

because he is teaching her to use her Shardblade, and Shallan cannot bear to wield Pattern

because of her memories.

What Shallan is going through in Oathbringer makes readers sympathize with her. She is

clearly in pain, because of her past and, at times, because her identity crisis. However, at the

same time, her identity crisis makes it harder for readers to empathize with her most of the

time. Not only do readers see that she is developing multiple personalities (and not just

personas she portrays, she even seems schizophrenic at times), but the effect of the multiple

personalities also seeps into the text. The chapter Double Vision begins with a single sentence

paragraph “Shallan became Veil” (OB 190), and while she creates the illusion of Veil in the

next paragraph, the personal pronouns “Shallan” and “she” are at many points replaced by

“Veil,” creating the impression that she is switching between personas. This effect becomes

more and more prominent as the novel progresses, and sometimes she is less Shallan than her

other personas:

She turned herself back into Shallan right before she reached the tailor’s shop. Veil let go reluctantly, as

she kept wanting to go track down Kaladin in the Wall Guard. He wouldn’t know her, so she could approach him, pretend to get to know him. Maybe flirt a little … Radiant was aghast at that idea. Her oaths to Adolin weren’t complete, but they were important. She respected him, and enjoyed their time training together with the sword. And Shallan … what did Shallan want again? Did it matter? Why bother worrying about her? Veil finally let go. She folded her hat and coat, then used an illusion to disguise them as a satchel. She layered an illusion of Shallan and her havah over the top of her trousers and shirt, then strolled inside. (OB 733) (emphasis added)

The effect her personalities seeping into the text is very well done, and it leaves the readers

worrying about her fate, even toward the end of the novel where she regains some of her

“wholeness” once she starts to accept that she can be forgiven (by herself) for what she has

done. During the third novel, her personas Veil and Brightness Radiant become so strong that

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Shallan completely loses herself in them at times, and it scares her, which makes readers

sympathize with her. On the other hand, while readers can still empathize with the thoughts of

the different personas, empathizing with Shallan as a character becomes more difficult

because it is harder for the readers to relate to her.

Shallan’s inner turmoil differs from the other two main characters’, because she does not

have her “moments” where the turmoil culminates, like the other two characters do. In the

first novel her inner turmoil weakens the readers’ empathy for her, because her relationship

with Kabsal is destined to fail and the theft of the Soulcaster is wrong. In the second novel,

she starts her identity crisis, which escalates almost into schizophrenia in the third novel. This

simultaneously makes readers sympathize with her and empathize with her less because of the

effects of the multiple personas.

3.4 Concluding Remarks

The readers empathy and sympathy toward Shallan differs from their emotions toward other

two main characters. Unlike the other characters, readers’ empathy and sympathy toward

Shallan is created mostly through her own characteristics and actions, without having the

same outside influence as the other two characters. Sanderson also does not use the same

structural effects to affect readers’ emotions toward Shallan, as he does with the other two

characters’ moments.

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4. Dalinar

Readers emotions toward Dalinar are evoked by his analepses and his “moments”, in addition

to the general character identification. Readers’ first impression of Dalinar differs from the

other two characters, because his first focalizing chapters are shared by his son, Adolin. We as

readers immediately get two different perspectives on his character. The image of Dalinar as a

“father figure” and a character on a level above others begins in the first focalizing chapter

and is heightened throughout the series. This image and its effect on readers’ emotions is

discussed in chapter 4.1. The analepses of the third novel tell readers about Dalinar’s past as

the famous “Blackthorn”. The analepses have a recency effect on Dalinar’s character, which is

discussed in chapter 4.2. Dalinar has moments similar to Kaladin’s heroic moments, and their

effect is discussed in chapter 4.3.

4.1 The Father Figure

Dalinar is the only one of the highprinces who is interested in ending the conflict with the

Parshendi after five years of skirmishing. Most of the other nine highprinces are only

interested in hunting chasmfiends, huge beasts that have chrysalis hearts, which contain large

gemstones that can hold Stormlight inside them. Dalinar makes his soldiers wear uniforms at

all times and adhere to the Alethi Codes of War, which the other highprinces do not expect

from their soldiers. Dalinar also thinks he has visions given to him by the Almighty. The

visions are kept secret from most people because he would immediately be thought as

delusional, but also because the idea that they are from the Almighty is highly blasphemous,

which is another reason to keep quiet in their religious society. These visions and the trust

Dalinar puts in them can have an effect on the readers’ emotions toward him, especially as

they make him trust Sadeas, who clearly is not a trustworthy person. Dalinar is at present

basically as exemplary as one can be, which makes Kaladin’s hatred of lighteyes and his

inability to believe in Dalinar’s goodness an interesting dynamic. Kaladin has been treated

very badly by lighteyes, whom he has trusted, in the past, and his hatred and distrust affects

both Dalinar and Kaladin, as readerly antipathy may be formed toward Kaladin because

Dalinar has done nothing that would warrant Kaladin’s distrust. On the other hand, Kaladin’s

distrust toward Dalinar might create a nagging feeling in readers that he might not be that

good after all. Dalinar, the greatest warrior in Alethkar, also infamously passed out in a

drunken stupor when the Assassin in White killed his brother, the king of Alethkar.

Furthermore, for some reason, he does not remember his dead wife at all. He knows that she

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existed, but anytime somebody even mentions her name he kind of blacks out and hears only

“Shshshsh” (WoK 886).

Readers are introduced to Dalinar during Part Two of The Way of Kings. Apart from

being mentioned in the prologue and by Kaladin’s bridgemen in chapter 6 (WoK 22, 104), he

only becomes part of the story in chapter 12, much later than the other two main characters.

The other difference between Dalinar on the one hand and Kaladin and Shallan on the other is

that the first few of his focalizing chapters are shared with another character, his son, Adolin,

who is the first of the two to be the focalizer. The introduction to Dalinar’s character is

created by the contrast between himself and his son’s opinions of his father, which seem to

echo the first two mentions of Dalinar: “As he walked, Szeth was forced to step around

Dalinar Kholin—the king’s own brother—who slumped drunken at a small table” (WoK 22)

and “Aye. The best of men, the most honorable Shardbearer in the king’s army. They say he’s

never broken his word” (WoK 104). The difference between Dalinar’s and Adolin’s views is

not as drastic as the difference between the first two mentions of Dalinar, but throughout their

joint chapters Adolin questions Dalinar’s actions, or specifically his inactions, whereas

Dalinar acts carefully and reservedly because of his past deeds. The past deeds are something

Adolin idolizes. However, Adolin, like the readers, does not know the extent of them and that

they also eventually led him to the drunken stupor on the night of his brother’s assassination,

for which he has not been able to forgive himself.

The interplay between Dalinar and Adolin affects readers’ view of Dalinar, especially

when it comes to his visions: It all made Adolin feel sick. Dalinar was the Blackthorn, a genius of the battlefield and a living legend. Together, he and his brother had reunited Alethkar’s warring highprinces after centuries of strife. He had defeated countless challengers in duels, had won dozens of battles. The entire kingdom looked up to him. And now this. What did you do, as a son, when the man you loved—the greatest man alive—started to lose his wits? (WoK 185)

Adolin may think his father is the greatest man alive, but his current actions are far from what

they should be. Additionally, he knows his father is having “episodes” where he claims that he

sees things during highstorms (WoK 219). As readers we know that Dalinar is experiencing

visions, not just seizures, which is all any other character can witness, even if we get inside

the visions only later on. There is clear evidence even in Dalinar’s first chapters that he sees

something, as there are multiple examples of something he has heard in his visions. Also, his

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first focalizing part in the novel begins with the paragraph “Unite them” (WoK 186). The same

paragraph repeats itself several times in his first chapters, as well as later in the book. It is the

main idea he has received from his visions. At this point, readers can either believe Dalinar or

think he is deranged.

I would argue that most readers believe Dalinar, and even empathize with him. First of

all, someone seeing visions in a fantasy novel is not unusual. Second, Dalinar’s portrayal

apart from the visions makes him the most reasonable character in the story so far, especially

compared to the other characters in his first focalizing chapters. He lets his nephew, Elhokar,

the king, win a contest against him, a contest the king foolishly started (WoK 188). He then

heroically saves the king during a chasmfiend hunt gone wrong (WoK 209), and he seems to

be the only one (only highprince at least) who cares about the lives of bridgemen: “You should switch to bridges like his,” Elhokar said. “Your Majesty,” Dalinar said. “Sadeas’s bridges waste many lives.” (WoK 226)

Also, when Elhokar is in danger, Dalinar immediately snaps into action, as something

changes inside him because “His brother’s son was in danger” (WoK 208). However, it is not

only his actions, but also some of the word choices that make Dalinar seem almost like a

father figure, and, in this sense, trustworthy to readers, as well as someone they can empathize

with. In addition to Dalinar treating the twenty-seven-year-old king as if he were a foolish

boy, he has to take care of his other son, Renarin, during the battle with the chasmfiend (WoK

207). In fact, Adolin even thinks that he is so magnificent with the Shardplate that he proves

all other men children (WoK 209). On top of everything, his opinion of the war is much more

mature than that of the other highprinces, even if his is not the Alethi way. They see the “war”

as a contest between them, and have lost the true purpose of why they are at the Shattered

Plains in the first place. Near the end of the novel, Dalinar even calls the other highprinces

children, after “disciplining” the king once again (WoK 961).

Dalinar is the “father figure,” and not only because he is at least thirty years older than

the two other main characters, Kaladin and Shallan. He seems to be the only responsible

highprince, and somehow he constantly ends up being above all other characters. He is named

the Highprince of War, meaning that he makes all the decisions concerning war over the other

highprinces. Elhokar makes him accept the role of High King, that is to say, a king above

kings. He is also the leader of the Knights Radiant, since he is the one who was chosen to

unite them, because the visions were given to him, and because he is from the rare Order of

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Bondsmiths, whose number is limited to three at a time due to their spren being unique in

kind. All this elevates him above all the other characters, to an almost divine figure, which

makes it harder to empathize with him, because his superiority makes him harder to relate

with. What is more, the divine connotation makes him feel as though he does not need

sympathy, because at times, it is hard to imagine that he could be suffering, which is a key

element to sympathy. He has also met Roshar’s all three “gods”: Cultivation when seeking the

old magic; Odium, the evil god, whom he has a mental battle with in Thaylenah; and Honor,

who is dead, but the sliver of his existence that still exists is the Stormfather, who is Dalinar’s

spren. In the battle of Thaylenah, he more or less embodies Honor, which effectively makes

him a divinity. One more thing that separates him from the other characters is that he is the

author of Oathbringer, My Glory and My Shame in Oathbringer. He is also protected against

Odium only by The Way of Kings (Words of Radiance is also a book in the story) in the battle

of Thaylenah.

While Dalinar being a father figure is something readers can empathize with, all these

characteristics that elevate him “above” the other characters make him less relatable and

harder to empathize with. They also make him less sympathetic, at least toward negative

emotions, because he is “better” than the others and should not be suffering.

4.2 Analepses: The Blackthorn

Dalinar is a very reasonable man and a respected leader. Still, throughout the story people

keep referring to the “Blackthorn”, the man who he used to be. His son, Adolin, who is too

young to have seen the Blackthorn in action, would like Dalinar to be the Blackthorn again

instead of talking about his visions and the Knights Radiant: It all made Adolin feel sick. Dalinar was the Blackthorn, a genius of the battlefield and a living legend. Together, he and his brother had reunited Alethkar’s warring highprinces after centuries of strife. He had defeated countless challengers in duels, had won dozens of battles. The entire kingdom looked up to him. And now this. What did you do, as a son, when the man you loved—the greatest man alive—started to lose his wits? (WoK 185)

He does get a glimpse of the Blackthorn when Dalinar heroically saves Elhokar from a

chasmfiend, but normally Dalinar is careful and reserved. Dalinar himself thinks about the

Blackthorn too: “This was a time the Alethi needed the Blackthorn, not an old, tired soldier

who fancied himself a philosopher” (WoK 370). He does “let the Blackthorn loose” (WoK

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783), when he saves Sadeas, who has fallen on the battlefield, but other than that, he keeps

that side of him subdued. The readers are not told much about what the Blackthorn is like,

other than that he is a great warrior. As both the “good” and the “bad” characters want him to

be the Blackthorn again and Dalinar does not want to be him, the legend of the Blackthorn

becomes ambiguous and does not affect readers’ emotions in a meaningful way, other than

during Dalinar’s heroic feats, and even then the effect is caused by the heroism.

The role of the analepses is to show readers what the Blackthorn is like. The analepses

create a strong recency effect, which corresponds to Sternberg’s second model of rhetorical

control, in which “the recency effect is designed to complicate, modify or qualify rather than

demolish the reader’s first impressions” (Sternberg 99). The recency effect is created because

the Blackthorn is very different than the Dalinar we as readers have gotten to know is. In most

of the analepses, he is affected by what the Alethi call the “Thrill” of battle (WoK 187), which

is revealed to be one of the Unmade, the princes of Voidbringers, only in the epigraph of

chapter “An Old Friend”, in the latter part of Oathbringer. The Thrill gives soldiers bloodlust

and makes them enraged, and in the first analepsis we learn that the Blackthorn is an addict: An emotion stirred inside Dalinar. It was a fire that filled the pit within. It washed through him and awakened him, bringing clarity. The sounds of his elites fighting the brightlord’s honor guard faded, metal on metal becoming clinks, grunts becoming merely a distant humming. Dalinar smiled. Then the smile became a toothy grin. His vision returned as the brightlord—knife in hand—looked up and started, stumbling back. He seemed horrified. Dalinar roared, spitting blood and throwing himself at the enemy. The swing that came at him seemed pitiful and Dalinar ducked it, ramming his shoulder against his foe’s lower body. Something thrummed inside Dalinar, the pulse of the battle, the rhythm of killing and dying. The Thrill. (OB 46) —- Dalinar kept moving, fighting off the dull sense of … nothingness that often followed a battle. This was the worst time. He could still remember being alive, but now had to face a return to mundanity. (OB 51)

For the Blackthorn, having the Thrill is being alive, whereas Dalinar controls his emotions

during battle and even gets nauseated a few times when fighting in the first novel because of

the killing. The Blackthorn is also as far as he can be from the contemplating philosopher

Dalinar is in the novels: “Why…” the man said from within his helm. “Why us?” “Don’t know,” Dalinar said, tossing the poleaxe back to Dym. “You … you don’t know?” the dying man said. “My brother chooses,” Dalinar said. “I just go where he points me.” (OB 47)

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Dalinar is the one who constantly questions and ponders their actions, he even thinks about a

peace between the Alethi and the Parshendi instead of the vengeance the Alethi are after. The

Blackthorn does not care, he does not even know why he is killing his enemies, as he seems to

be only after the Thrill.

During the analepses, Dalinar, as the Blackthorn, does many things he is not proud of

later, and some things he regrets deeply. He almost kills his brother in one of the analepses,

because he is so consumed by the Thrill: One way for Dalinar to get everything he deserved. He was running. Some of the men in Gavilar’s group raised hands in welcome. Weak. No weapons presented against him! He could slaughter them all before they knew what had happened. They deserved it! Dalinar deserved to— Gavilar turned toward him, pulling free his helm and smiling an open, honest grin. Dalinar pulled up, stopping with a lurch. He stared at Gavilar, his brother. Oh, Stormfather, Dalinar thought. What am I doing? He let the Blade slip from his fingers and vanish. Gavilar strode up, unable to read Dalinar’s horrified expression behind his helm. As a blessing, no shamespren appeared, though he should have earned a legion of them in that moment. (OB 271)

What Dalinar does in the analepses, such as almost kills his brother in a frenzy, are not what

we as readers expected from his past. His past issues with alcohol are known, although not the

full extent of them, as he is passed out when the Assassin in White kills Gavilar in the

prologue of the first novel. It is also known that he and his brother united Alethkar into one

kingdom using the sword more than words. However, the ferocity of his actions takes the

readers by surprise. It is something that the readers might expect from Sadeas’s past, and the

fact that Sadeas, probably the most unsympathetic character in the series, is not nearly as

frenzied as the Blackthorn in the analepses makes the actions even worse. The actions make

the Dalinar of the past very unsympathetic, and I doubt that any readers empathize with the

Blackthorn for the most part. The worst of his actions is, however, when he burns an entire

city, Rathalas, also known as the Rift, and accidentally kills his wife in the process.

Dalinar reacts to all the analepses that his wife features in, which is all but the first two

until her death, just like the readers do, because he has gotten rid of all memories of her with

old magic. His reaction to the earlier analepses is not especially strong, although he wonders

why he is getting his memories back: That was all that had emerged over the last few days. The rest was still a blur. He could recall meeting Evi, courting her—awkwardly, since both knew it was an arrangement of political necessity—and eventually entering into a causal betrothal.

45 He didn’t remember love, but he did remember attraction. The memories brought questions, like cremlings emerging from their hollows after the rain. (OB 240)

As the horrors of the analepses grow, Dalinar begins to wonder more and more about the

reason for his memories coming back. This makes readers sympathize with him, because he is

not happy about how he treated his wife, and the memories make him sad. Even if the

Blackthorn does not deserve the readers’ sympathy, present Dalinar fulfills Sklar’s criteria for

sympathy. He is clearly suffering, the suffering feels unfair, even if it is caused by his own

actions, and the readers feel bad for Dalinar (Sklar 35). Had Dalinar known about what he has

done, the readers probably would not feel sympathy for him, but because he remembers his

past at the same time the readers learn about it, and the readers can see how much he has

changed from the man he used to be, he deserves the readers’ sympathy.

The strongest reaction comes after the analepsis where he kills her wife. Because of this,

what happens in the Rift creates a stronger emotional reaction for the readers. The first time

Dalinar and Gavilar conquer the Rift, twenty-two years earlier, Dalinar wins his Shardblade,

Oathbringer, by killing the Rift’s highprince. He spares the highprince’s crying son, Tanalan,

who comes back to haunt him in the later analepsis. Twenty-two years later, Tanalan makes

Dalinar believe that Sadeas has betrayed him, and when Dalinar investigates, he gets caught

in a trap, which almost kills him. He returns to the Rift seeing red, in fact, his eyes are

literally red because of the Thrill: “I intend to so thoroughly ruin this place that for ten

generations, nobody will dare build here for fear of the spirits who will haunt it. We will

make a pyre of this city, and there shall be no weeping for its passing, for none will remain to

weep” (OB 742). In addition to the city, he sets fire to the hidden hole where Tanalan was

hiding as a child twenty-two years earlier without knowing that it is used as a prison and his

wife is inside. He does not take responsibility for her death, but he feels it nevertheless: As he departed, he strangely heard the screams of those people in the Rift. He stopped, wondering what it was. Nobody else seemed to notice. Yes, that was distant screaming. In his head, maybe? They all seemed children to his ears. The ones he’d abandoned to the flames. A chorus of the innocent pleading for help, for mercy. Evi’s voice joined them. (OB 751)

The effect of the reveal to the readers is strengthened by the fact that Dalinar remembers his

wife’s fate ten chapters before the readers learn of it, and it takes ten chapters before the

narrative returns to Dalinar after her wife’s death and we as readers finally get to see his

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reaction to the memory. The short paragraphs used for Kaladin’s heroic moments are used in

the scene where he remembers, and the effect of the memory to Dalinar is clearly stupefying: Navani waited outside the building. Dalinar stepped out and blinked at the sunlight, chilled by the mountain cold. He smiled broadly at her, opening his mouth to tell her what her essay had done. An animal … An animal reacts when it is prodded … Memories. You whip it, and it becomes savage. Dalinar stumbled. He vaguely heard Navani crying out, yelling for help. His vision spun, and he fell to his knees, feeling an overwhelming nausea. He clawed at the stone, groaning, breaking fingernails. Navani … Navani was calling for a healer. She thought he’d been poisoned. It wasn’t that. No, it was far, far worse. Storms. He remembered. It came crashing down on him, the weight of a thousand boulders. He remembered what had happened to Evi. It had started in a cold fortress, in highlands once claimed by Jah Keved. It had ended at the Rift. (OB 656–657)

The effect is also increased by Sanderson building the suspense toward the reveal by telling

the events leading up to the burning of the Rift in three analepses before the chapter where the

readers finally learn about Evi’s fate.

When the readers finally see Dalinar’s reaction to the memory, it is hard not to

sympathize with him, because he is clearly broken by the memory: They thought he was sick. They thought his collapse on the Oathgate platform had been caused by heart troubles, or fatigue. The surgeons had suggested rest. But if he stopped standing up straight, if he let it bow him down, he worried the memories would crush him. The memories of what he’d done at the Rift. The crying voices of children, begging for mercy. He forced his emotions down. “What news,” he said, embarrassed by how his voice trembled. (OB 823)

But what the readers can see as well is that Dalinar is not the man he was before. He admits to

himself that it was cowardice to seek the old magic and get rid of the memories that made him

drink even more than before. However, the memories lead him to drink again, because for

him it was “either this or start killing again” (OB 942), and the killing is not an option

anymore. The readers’ view of the effect of the memories on his capacity to function is

enhanced by Navani, his current wife, getting her first focalizing chapters. In these chapters,

Navani takes on Dalinar’s role as the leader of the coalition of kingdoms, because Dalinar is

incapacitated by the memories and the alcohol abuse. All these elements combined enable us

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as readers see that Dalinar is broken by the memories coming back, which creates a lot of

sympathy for him.

While the analepses have a recency effect on Dalinar’s character, the primacy effect

created and fortified in the first two novels is strong enough to sustain the new information,

and the analepses do not make the readers turn on Dalinar. In fact, the analepses can have the

opposite effect and make the readers sympathize more with Dalinar, because he suffers

greatly due to the memories coming back to him. One could argue that Sanderson manages to

do with Dalinar what Homer did with Odysseus according to Sternberg. Sternberg argues that

Homer used delayed exposition “on the one hand to ensure and maintain our essentially

sympathetic attitude towards the protagonist, and on the other hand to explore his character in

all its complexity” (92). By delaying in giving the information about Dalinar’s past to the

readers until the third book, Sanderson manages to maintain the readers’ sympathy for Dalinar

even after the reveals of his horrible past deeds.

4.3 The Moments of Peace

The most important moments for Dalinar differ from Kaladin’s moments, because during

these moments instead of just accomplishing something, like swearing an Ideal, he finds

peace. This happens for the first time at the end of The Way of Kings after he is betrayed by

Sadeas and is certain of his death. The second time, after fighting the Assassin in White and

losing, he finds peace in knowing that he could not have saved his brother from the assassin.

The third time he finds peace is at the end of Oathbringer, after having heard his wife

forgives him.

He does, however, have his heroic moments as well, such as rescuing Elhokar in his first

focalizing chapters and fighting the Assassin in White in the second novel. These moments

are not built similarly as Kaladin’s moments, as they do not have multiple single line

paragraphs to add to the suspense like Kaladin’s moments do. Rather, the immersing “visual”

element of the moments is created by focalization through his son’s admiring perspective. The

last moment, however, happens at the same time Kaladin fails to say the Fourth Ideal, and the

effect created by the simultaneous events taking place is even stronger than in Kaladin’s

heroic moments. The information given to the readers through the analepses also

“culminates” in the battle of Thaylenah, because Dalinar is forgiven by his dead wife and he

literally defeats the subject of his addiction by imprisoning the Thrill. The triumph of

Dalinar’s moment is also enhanced by Kaladin’s failure. It is also enhanced by the fact that it

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brings together his status above the other characters, who are all amazed by what he is able to

do.

The effect the moments of peace have on readers’ empathy, and especially sympathy, is

also different from Kaladin’s moments. The first two moments of peace happen when Dalinar

is certain he is about to die. The acceptance he has for the situation leads to the moment of

peace, which to a certain extent, removes the need for sympathy for the character, since there

is no “suffering to be alleviated,” which is included in Sklar’s first element in sympathy.

Readers can feel elated or satisfied sympathy, or empathy, for the peace Dalinar gains, but the

“regular” sympathy disappears. When his wife forgives him, on the other hand, readers still

feel sympathy for his pain, but can also feel sympathy for the fact that, once again, he gains

peace.

The first of Dalinar’s heroic moments comes in his second focalizing chapter with

Adolin, when he saves Elhokar from certain death. It is built similarly as the scene of

Kaladin’s Second Ideal, where the effect of the Second Ideal is seen through Teft’s eyes

instead of Kaladin’s. Dalinar’s heroic moment is seen through his son’s eyes:

Adolin knew—suddenly—that disaster was upon them. The king would be killed on a simple hunt. The

kingdom would shatter, the highprinces divided, the one tenuous link that kept them together cut away. No! Adolin thought, stunned, still dazed, trying to stumble forward. And then he saw his father. Dalinar charged toward the king, moving with a speed and grace no man—not even one wearing Shardplate—should be able to manage. He leaped over a rock shelf, then ducked and skidded beneath a claw swinging for him. Other men thought they understood Shardblades and Shardplate, but Dalinar Kholin … at times, he proved them all children. (WoK 209)

Adolin’s admiration for his father’s skill not only creates a heroic image of Dalinar, it forms

the image of Dalinar being above the others even in the beginning of the series. By showing

Dalinar’s superior skill to the readers, Sanderson emphasizes Dalinar’s desire to most of the

time use violence as a last resort, itself a heroic quality that readers can empathize with,

instead of avoiding violence because “the Blackthorn has lost its sting” (WoK 353), as seems

to be the general consensus among the highprinces. Dalinar’s second heroic moment, apart

from him rescuing Sadeas in a battle, comes at the end of the second novel. Like when seeing

his father run to Elhokar’s rescue, Adolin again freezes when seeing his father: Metal clanged nearby as Dalinar fought. If he could hold a little longer, Adolin would be able to help. He would not let that creature get the better of him again. Not again! He spared a glance for what Dalinar was doing, and froze, hands on the straps for his breastplate. His father . . . his father moved beautifully. (WoR 1021)

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Adolin freezing in these moments adds to the immersion of the moment. The effect is not as

strong at the beginning of The Way of Kings, because the characters are still new to the

readers. However, at the end of the second novel we as readers know that Adolin, despite his

relatively young age, is battle-hardened and possibly the best duelist in Alethkar. He has just

fought the Assassin in White himself with the added speed and strength of a Shardplate, and

lost, and now his father is fighting, injured and without a Shardplate, and fares better than he

did. Adolin’s reaction adds to the image of Dalinar’s superiority, but while Adolin’s

admiration once again makes Dalinar seem heroic, the stronger effect for the readers comes

when he finally makes a mistake in the fight, and finds peace.

The moments of peace for Dalinar are also moments of forgiveness. In the first one,

Adolin forgives his father for trusting Sadeas, who has just betrayed them, and Dalinar

realizes that while his actions have led to their death, he was right in taking them: Yes, he could have been more cautious. He could have been warier of Sadeas. But would he have given up on the Codes? Would he have become the same pitiless killer he’d been as a youth? No. Did it matter that the visions had been wrong about Sadeas? Was he ashamed of the man that they, and the readings from the book, had made him become? The final piece fell into place inside of him, the final cornerstone, and he found that he was no longer worried. The confusion was gone. He knew what to do, at long last. No more questions. No more uncertainty. —- There he found peace. An unexpected emotion on the field of battle, but all the more welcome for that. (WoK 907–908)

The fight against the Assassin in White also gives him peace, because Dalinar can finally

forgive himself: In that instant he knew a truth he should always have known. If I’d been there, on that night, awake instead of drunk and asleep . . . Gavilar would still have died. I couldn’t have beaten this creature. I can’t do it now, and I couldn’t have done it then. I couldn’t have saved him. It brought peace, and Dalinar finally set down that boulder, the one he’d been carrying for over six years. (WoR 1022–1023)

These moments of peace create distance between the readers and Dalinar. Hans Robert Jauss

lists five types of identification with the hero in his book Aesthetic Experience and Literary

Hermeneutics, and the moments of peace combined with his heroics make Dalinar closest to

what is the “the perfect hero” (Jauss 159), because the readers feel admiration for his

unrivaled skill, which is enhanced by Adolin’s admiration, and for him being able to accept

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his fate and find peace. This makes it harder for readers to empathize or sympathize with him,

because his “perfection” created by the moments lifts him above what the readers can relate

to, and it seems like he no longer needs the readers’ sympathy because of the peace he finds.

However, unlike the other two peaceful moments, the third one, in Oathbringer, does not

directly create a similar distance between Dalinar and the readers, because the readers are

aware of the pain caused by his memories throughout the scene. The third moment of peace

for Dalinar takes place in the battle of Thaylenah, during which he is forgiven by his wife.

The moment is also his biggest heroic moment, because he is able to resist Odium, the god of

the Voidbringers, and he saves the other main characters of the series in the battle.

There are many elements of the battle of Thaylenah that evoke readers’ emotions. The

build up for Kaladin’s Fourth Ideal, which is discussed in 2.1, is also the build-up for

Dalinar’s heroic moment. During the scene, Dalinar is lifted even more above the other

characters that he already has been. It begins with his wife, Navani, seeing him walking

toward an “overwhelming force of Voidbringers —- carrying a book tucked under his

arm” (OB 1107). Dalinar completely ignores the army and finds Odium instead, and

challenges him to a contest of champions. Unexpectedly, Odium chooses Dalinar as his

champion, which comes as a surprise to Dalinar, as well as the readers: “I have chosen my champion already. I’ve been preparing him for a long, long time.” “Amaram.” “Him? A passionate man, yes, but hardly suited to this task. No, I need someone who dominates a battlefield like the sun dominates the sky.” The Thrill suddenly returned to Dalinar. The red mist—which had been fading—roared back to life. Images filled his mind. Memories of his youth spent fighting. “I need someone stronger than Amaram,” Odium whispered. “No.” “A man who will win no matter the cost.” The Thrill overwhelmed Dalinar, choking him. “A man who has served me all his life. A man I trust. I believe I warned you that I knew you’d make the right decision. And now here we are.” “No.” “Take a deep breath, my friend,” Odium whispered. “I’m afraid that this will hurt.” (OB 1121–1122)

The suspense of the moment is built by the simultaneous events, ten different focalizers, and

the readers’ expectation for Kaladin’s Fourth Ideal. Odium torments Dalinar with the

memories, especially of the events in the Rift, and right before Kaladin is supposed to say the

Fourth Ideal, Odium says: “It’s done, Dalinar. The pain has passed. Stand up and claim the

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station you were born to obtain” (OB 1130). The readers have no reason to doubt Odium’s

words that Dalinar is now his, since Dalinar’s other son, Renarin, who can see the future, has

just moments before seen his father fall, and because Kaladin is about to swear the Fourth

Ideal and, once again, save everyone. However, surprisingly, neither of those things end up

happening. Instead, Dalinar rises up and finally takes responsibility for his actions. While

Kaladin’s Second and Third Ideals are major moments for the character, neither of them have

the magnitude of this scene: Trembling, bleeding, agonized, Dalinar forced air into his lungs and spoke a single ragged sentence. “You cannot have my pain.” (OB 1133) —- Odium stepped back. “Dalinar? What is this?” “You cannot have my pain.” “Dalinar—” Dalinar forced himself to his feet. “You. Cannot. Have. My. Pain.” “Be sensible.” “I killed those children,” Dalinar said. “No, it—” “I burned the people of Rathalas.” “I was there, influencing you—” “YOU CANNOT HAVE MY PAIN!” Dalinar bellowed, stepping toward Odium. The god frowned. His Fused companions shied back, and Amaram raised a hand before his eyes and squinted. Were those gloryspren spinning around Dalinar? “I did kill the people of Rathalas,” Dalinar shouted. “You might have been there, but I made the choice. I decided!” He stilled. “I killed her. It hurts so much, but I did it. I accept that. You cannot have her. You cannot take her from me again.” “Dalinar,” Odium said. “What do you hope to gain, keeping this burden?” Dalinar sneered at the god. “If I pretend … If I pretend I didn’t do those things, it means that I can’t have grown to become someone else.” “A failure.” Something stirred inside of Dalinar. A warmth that he had known once before. A warm, calming light. Unite them. “Journey before destination,” Dalinar said. “It cannot be a journey if it doesn’t have a beginning.” A thunderclap sounded in his mind. Suddenly, awareness poured back into him. The Stormfather, distant, feeling frightened—but also surprised. Dalinar? “I will take responsibility for what I have done,” Dalinar whispered. “If I must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” (OB 1134–1135)

The last line is the Third Ideal of Dalinar’s Order of the Knights Radiant. The build up to the

scene, where readers expect the Fourth Ideal from Kaladin, and Kaladin’s subsequent failure

make readers feel a great amount of elated sympathy for Dalinar’s success. The moment is so

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strong that it even diminishes the need for readers’ sympathy for Kaladin caused by his

failure. The readers’ sympathy for Dalinar increases throughout the novel because of the

memories’ effect on him, and his ability to overcome the grief of the memories make readers

happy for his success.

The moment of greatness, however, is bigger than just the Third Ideal. The next thing

Dalinar does is combine the three realms, the Physical, the Cognitive and the Spiritual into

one, and as he does that, he is forgiven by Evi: Only one person remained in place. A young parshwoman, the one that Dalinar had visited in the visions. “What are you?” she whispered as he stood with arms outstretched, holding to the lands of mind and spirit. He closed his eyes, breathing out, listening to a sudden stillness. And within it a simple, quiet voice. A woman’s voice, so familiar to him. I forgive you. Dalinar opened his eyes, and knew what the parshwoman saw in him. Swirling clouds, glowing light, thunder and lightning. “I am Unity.” He slammed both hands together. And combined three realms into one. (OB 1136)

Once again, Dalinar does something that elevates him above the other characters, and while it

is certainly heroic and brings elated sympathy for him, it also distances him from the readers’

relatability and makes him harder to empathize with, because only Honor is supposed to be

able to do what he does. The same elevating effect is created by him fighting a different battle

than the rest of the characters. While the others fight the Voidbringer army, he first takes on

Odium, after which he alone faces the Thrill and captures it. Even the pain of the memories

that readers sympathize with starts to fade: “Forgiven. The pain he’d so recently insisted that

he would keep started to fade away on its own” (OB 1139). Additionally, when imprisoning

the Thrill, instead of fighting it he embraces it overcoming his addiction and actually thanks it

for giving him the strength to refuse Odium. The battle of Thaylenah begins with a very

sympathetic Dalinar, who is about to be defeated because of his debilitating grief, and ends

with him not only elevating far above the other characters, but elevating above the readers’

sympathy and empathy for him, leaving only admiration for his actions.

Dalinar’s moments in the series differ from Kaladin’s moments, because at times Dalinar

becomes the “perfect hero” and becomes solely the subject of readers’ admiration, whereas

Kaladin at no point is able to cross the threshold from the “imperfect hero” to the “perfect

hero” (Jauss 159), and therefore always retains the readers’ sympathy during his heroic

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moments. Some of Dalinar’s moments bring the readers’ elated sympathy for him, and some

moments take away the readers’ sympathy because of his inner peace.

4.4 Concluding Remarks

The readers’ first impression of Dalinar is created differently than Shallan’s and Kaladin’s. By

having two focalizers in Dalinar’s first focalizing chapters, Sanderson creates a contrast

between the Dalinar the readers see and the Dalinar the other characters see. This separation

continues throughout the series becoming stronger and leads to Dalinar being in a way on a

level above the other characters. The moments of heroism and peace that Dalinar has in the

series, as he is elevated even above the heroic Kaladin. In these moments, Dalinar also finds

peace through forgiveness, which lessens the readers’ empathy and sympathy for him as he

elevates himself even above the readers. Dalinar’s character is even able to withhold the effect

of the analepses of the third novel, in which he performs horrendous deeds that would

normally make him lose the readers’ sympathy and empathy for him.

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5. Conclusion

In this thesis, I have analyzed the major elements that have an effect on readers’ empathy and

sympathy toward the three main characters of Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive.

The elements used for each character differ from each other, but there are also shared

elements, such as the analepses in each novel. In the second chapter, I analyzed the elements

used for evoking readers’ emotions toward Kaladin. Kaladin’s heroic moments in the series

are the strongest element in terms of evoking readers’ emotions toward him. The montage-like

imagery of the scenes and the textual structure used during the scenes, as well as the buildup

to the scenes and the events that take place, create a powerful sympathetic and empathetic

reaction toward Kaladin. Readers’ emotions toward Kaladin are also influenced by his

relationship with Syl, who the readers feel sympathy and empathy for, which influences

readers’ emotions toward Kaladin. The analepses of the first novel are the third major element

that has an affect on readers’ emotions toward Kaladin. Through the analepses readers learn

the reason for one of his unsympathetic characteristics, his hatred against lighteyes. The

analepses also explain some of his major decisions in the story that lead up to his heroic

moments.

In the third chapter, I analyzed readers’ emotions toward Shallan. Unlike the other two

characters, Shallan does not have similar specific moments in the story that influence readers’

emotions toward her. Readers’ empathy and sympathy for Shallan is built through her

character’s growth during the series. The first impression of her created by the first novel is

altered by her emotional growth as well as the analepses of the second novel that explain her

naive and timid characteristics in the first novel. The analepses have a recency effect on

Shallan’s character, and the events revealed in the analepses are the cause for the third

element that affects readers’ emotions toward her, her inner turmoil. The inner turmoil is

evident even in the first novel, but the focus of the turmoil shifts to her identity in the second

novel and escalates into near schizophrenia in the third novel, which affects readers’ emotions

toward her.

In the fourth chapter, I analyzed readers’ emotions toward Dalinar. The first impression of

Dalinar is created differently than with Shallan and Kaladin. Dalinar shares his first focalizing

chapters, which creates a contrast between him and the other characters in the series. The

contrast grows and eventually leads to Dalinar being on a level above the other characters

making him less relatable, which influences readers’ empathy and sympathy toward him.

Readers’ emotions are also affected by the analepses of the third novel, which have a recency

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effect on his character because of their surprising content. Like Kaladin, Dalinar has specific

moments in the series that have a major effect on readers’ empathy and sympathy toward him.

These moments differ from Kaladin’s moments, because they add to the elevated image of

Dalinar and therefore have a different effect than Kaladin’s moments.

It is difficult to say how the upcoming novels in the series are going to influence readers’

emotions toward these characters. In The Way of Kings, Kaladin was clearly the main

protagonist because of the number of focalizing chapters and him being the focalizer in the

analepses, which emphasized readers’ emotions toward him. However, in the second and third

novels, there is no “main” protagonist, although it could be argued that because of the

analepses, Shallan is the main protagonist in the second novel, and Dalinar in the third.

However, in the fourth novel the focalization of the analepses shifts to less featured

characters, and it is hard to predict how it will affect the three main characters. Kaladin will

probably have his “moments” also in the future novels because of the two Ideals yet to be

said, but what happens with Shallan and Dalinar is harder to predict. However, one thing is

for sure, the three characters will elicit the readers’ empathy and sympathy also in the future.

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Works Cited

“About Brandon.” brandonsanderson.com, https://www.brandonsanderson.com/about-

brandon. Accessed Dec. 15, 2019.

Jauss, Hans Robert. Aesthetic Experience and Literary Hermeneutics. University of

Minnesota Press, 1984.

Keen, Suzanne. Empathy and the Novel. Oxford University Press, 2007.

Sanderson, Brandon. Oathbringer. Gollancz, 2017.

—-. The Way of Kings. Orion, 2010.

—-. “Worldcon Flash AMA - Brandon Sanderson.” Reddit, Sep. 1, 2013, https://

www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1lhf1e/worldcon_flash_ama_brandon_sanderson/.

—-. Words of Radiance. Gollancz. 2014.

Sklar, Howard. The Art of Sympathy in Fiction: Forms of Ethical and Emotional Persuasion.

John Benjamins, 2013.

Sternberg, Meir. Expositional Modes and Temporal Ordering in Fiction. Johns Hopkins

University Press, 1978.

“The Stormlight Archive/Statistical analysis.” The Coppermind, https://coppermind.net/wiki/

The_Stormlight_Archive/Statistical_analysis. Accessed May 2, 2020.